


Late To The Party

by Joy_Stick



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen, Multi, OFC is hopefully a v rounded character, Other, Slow Burn Steve/OFC, follows through most MCU movies, friendship first, like really slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-09-01 03:53:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 59,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8606233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joy_Stick/pseuds/Joy_Stick
Summary: “The Tesseract was stolen. This is a level seven. You need to come in.” Morozov took James' distraction as an exit and ran, disappearing into the crowd that had surrounded them as she got to her feet, blood pouring from her nose and hand feeling like it had been left in the freezer for six hours.“Son of a bitch!”“I need you in New York.”“Son of a bitch…!”“We need you to bring Cap in when you get there.”“Son. of. a. bitch! ”
----
Agent James just wanted to do her job which included, but was not limited to, espionage, assassination, and babysitting a certain Super Soldier. Becoming an Avenger was never in the plan, but really why should she be surprised life was giving her the middle finger, it'd been doing that since the day she was born.
Adds a new character to the MCU, and will follow her through the movies. Will have minimal rewrites to the original stories and will hopefully weave naturally into the already established universe.





	1. "Have fun with the IceCap."

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! This is my first ever published fanfiction, and I have been working on this idea for a while!  
> My goal is to introduce a new character who will fit seamlessly into the already existing world of the MCU. This work is mostly un beta'd and is really just an exercise in me finally finishing an ongoing project haha! I will be following the movies as closely as possible with a few original chapters in between. Title is subject to change.

"And you're sure you want this assignment?" Director Fury sat at his desk, hands folded in front of his face, with his usual stony frown. Agent James nodded once, accepting the manila folder as it was slid carefully across the desk to her, mouth twitching slightly, trying not to smile as she hid her excitement. This certainly was not a normal mission for her, it was extended and most importantly, 'grounded' as she and her colleagues would call it. Her work usually took her away, at the most for weeks at a time, and she was usually in some kind of immediate danger. Being grounded was usually seen as penance for not performing well, but James welcomed the change of pace, not to mention the appeal of this particular mission.  
"I may still need you and your... Abilities for particular assignments, so count on that. He'll be waiting for you in the gym I suppose. Dismissed." Fury waved his hand in adjournment, and Agent James got up immediately, taking the file and bowing her head in respect as she turned and walked towards the office door.  
"I'm trusting you on this one James, it's more important than you might believe." The Directors voice rang out and the brunette did a half turn, a knowing smile on her face that she forced herself to reign in.  
"I know, sir. Thank you." She nodded once more and left quickly.  
When James entered the gym, she was half surprised he didn't hear her. She hadn't tried to be quiet, and her shoes would certainly make some sort of a noise on the wooden floor; she had thought maybe his enhanced hearing may have picked it up, but he seemed lost in a world of his own. She found herself staring at him, she didn't mean to, and she could only see his back, but she'd never actually seen him in real life before. In school she'd learnt all about Captain America, he was a true to life superhero, and his tragic end and ultimate sacrifice made his story a wholesome American tale. To find out he'd been alive and frozen in ice all this time was a shock to everyone, so much so that SHIELD hadn't even announced it to the world yet.

They wanted him settled first.

Waking up 70 years after you thought you'd died, in a time that was completely different from your own would be a hard transition for anyone, and that was where James came in. She was going to be his 'guide' into the 21st century. At least, that was what they would be telling Captain Rogers. The truth was that it was only a matter of time before other organisations within the intelligence community found out he was alive, and that would put the war hero in danger until they could clear him for active duty, at which point he'd still be in danger, but he'd be in far better shape to fend off attackers for himself, and perhaps the excitement around him would die down a little. Director Fury had asked her personally to take the mission, if only to take her out of the field for a while and get some of the current heat off of her. For a time anyway.

"Are you just going to stand there?" His voice rang out across the room, perfectly even as his fists pounded into the punching bag. He didn't sound like he had even broken a sweat. The baritone made James jump and she adjusted the bag strap on her shoulder, stepping further into the gym. Maybe he had heard her.  
"Sorry, Captain, I uh, was lost in thought." She trailed off, making a face at herself. The sound of Velcro being ripped apart made her relax her muscles as her new ward began to turn around.  
"So you're my... What are they calling it? Babysitter?" The Captain asked, taking in Agent James' appearance, switching to his wrist wraps when he'd apparently had enough.  
"I don't know, Captain, I think that depends on whether you'd classify yourself as a baby or as a teenage girl?" James shot back, a thin smile spread across her face when his blue eyes shot up to meet hers. She couldn't help but shrug at him as he relented, making a 'tsk' noise as he laughed to himself. Finally unwrapping his hands, he held one out to her to shake.  
"No need to call me Captain, Steve will do just fine Agent...?"  
"James! But you can just call me James. Everyone does." She took his hand and shook it lightly before taking a step back. A few emotions filtered across Steve's face too quickly for her to recognise, but long enough for James to notice, she frowned slightly as he hung his head and looked back up at her, a tired look on his face.  
"Have a first name?" He asked and James nodded, hesitantly at first.  
"But, Uhm, I don't like it that much. Besides, in this job, personal privacy is pretty important." She smiled unsurely until Steve smiled thinly back and she felt like there was something she was missing about the whole conversation. Eventually the blonde drew back too, pointing toward the locker rooms to the left.  
"Alright then, well I'm going to clean up. I'll meet you in the lobby." He didn't leave much room for questions, picking up his ancient looking duffle bag and heading toward the shower rooms. James stood for a moment, even after the door had shut, mentally going over and over the interaction she'd just had and berating herself for her inability to quit being awkward. Shaking her head, she sighed a breath of relief and left the gym, making her way towards the elevator.

In the SHIELD lobby, James fiddled with the buttons on her black cardigan, pulling it slightly tighter around her body as she tried to refrain from shivering. It was only the beginning of Autumn in DC, but her constantly freezing body temperature made it almost impossible for the brunette to ever feel comfortably warm. Shuffling her satchel from one shoulder to the other, James fished out her phone, checking any messages she may have received, seeing only one from a colleague.

'Have fun with the IceCap :) - T.'

James shook her head, a frown growing across her face but she didn't have time to reply, seeing the Icecap in question leaving the chrome elevators and looking around the large white administration. She waved a little from where she stood, a small ways from the desk itself, knowing that her shorter-than-the-average-SHIELD-employee height would make it hard to spot her through all the suits. Steve acknowledged her with a raised chin nod, hiking his bag higher on his shoulder and making his way across the foyer.  
"Great! You have everything you need?" She winced as she realised she did sound like a babysitter, he seemed to notice too and raised an eyebrow, before patting his duffle bag and nodding.  
"Alright, let's get going then."  
The pair walked side by side at an even pace through the sliding glass doors, James clenching her shivering jaw shut when the cool air hit her skin. She folded her arms best she could with her bag on her shoulder, and pointedly ignored the odd look Steve seemed to give her. She directed him toward the parking lot.  
"I don't usually drive when at home, but the boss saw fit to give us a company car to get around in." They descended the stairs quickly, James glad to be out of the slight breeze.  
"When you're at home?" Steve asked conversationally and she nodded.  
"Yep, believe it or not I'm not usually the grounded type." He raised a questioning eyebrow, she was starting to see he did that a lot.  
"Generally I work covert ops., extraction, and uh, sometimes assassination I guess." The Agent swallowed uncomfortably, but she figured there was no use hiding what she did. Steve nodded once, in understanding.  
"You're a spy." He stated matter of factly. James smiled coyly, reaching into her pocket, and taking out the car keys, unlocking the inconspicuous black four door-er.  
"I go wherever and do whatever Director Fury needs me to do." Once again, Steve simply nodded. He couldn't judge her, after all, he'd once been of similar service.  
"Do you drive?" James asked suddenly, holding the keys up in an offering manner, Steve considered them for a moment before shaking his head, going around the car for the passenger side door. James raised her own eyebrow but shrugged, jumping in the drivers seat.  
"I taught myself to drive a motorcycle in the middle of the war, but I get the feeling even if I did have a license, they wouldn't let me use it." Steve buckled his seat belt, and James started the car, smoothly pulling out of the parking bay and making her way onto the wide highway that connected the SHIELD offices to the rest of the city.  
"Yeah you know, that's probably for the best." She smiled a little, looking at the super soldier out of the corner of her eye.  
"I've read the SSR case files, I know about the amount of bikes you went through. I think it'll be a while before they give you a car..." Steve actually laughed then, and reached for the heating system, turning it up a little, shrugging a small amount when James gave him a furrow-browed smile.  
“You looked cold.” He stated simply, and the brunette couldn’t help but feel slightly touched by the action. She muttered out a ‘thanks’, while pretending she was hyper-focused on the road. Her heart started racing, how much did Fury brief him about her? What if he already knew? She chewed on the corner of her mouth, tapping her fingers on the leather steering wheel. That was the thing about her abilities… People would much rather hear she lied, cheated and killed her way to accomplish missions than to hear she occasionally froze people's hands on the trigger so they wouldn’t shoot her dead. She struggled to shake the nervous thoughts from her mind for the rest of the trip, and the pair remained in a fairly comfortable silence, Steve occasionally piping up to point out landmarks that were still the same as when he was in DC last, or things that had changed drastically. James quite easily picked up on the sad undertones, but she got the feeling he wasn't trying to hide it.

 

"You know," The blonde began, placing his duffle bag on the hallway floor.  
"My view on what's nice may be outdated, but I'm pretty sure when something is expensive." He stated, taking a few steps down the hall and peering in to his new home. The apartment was in a nice building just out of the centre of town, and was the only one on the top floor. James looked around, arms folded across her chest.  
"Actually this isn't so bad. I'm more surprised they didn't set you up with a state of the art Stark Industries modified home." She stated matter of factly, seeking out the kitchen and placing her bag down on the counter.  
"Besides, everything is expensive nowadays."  
Steve popped in from the connected living room, a small smile on his face.  
"There's a record player." He said simply and James grinned.  
"That was my idea actually! Records have made a bit of a come back thanks to Hipsters, but I'm not complaining! Means I can add to my collection easier." She continued to smile to herself thinking of the little record shop she'd been going to for years that had picked up a lot more clientele in recent months.  
"You have records?" Steve asked casually, leaning up against the kitchen counter with his arms folded, a quizzical look on his face. James nodded, opening the fridge and checking for any signs of food. It was pristine, top of the line and empty, as she expected.  
"Yeah! My uh... uncle loves them, he had this big old fashioned player in his living room when I was growing up, and he played it constantly, almost to a fault." She laughed at the memories of waltzing around the room to the voices of Etta James, Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee. When she looked back up at him, Steve had an expression she couldn't quite put her finger on, but he smiled and pushed off the counter, clearing his throat.  
"Fury said you'll be staying in the guest room?" He asked conversationally. James closed the fridge.  
"Only until you're able to function by yourself." She stated, regretting the words immediately as Steve raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. Even if it was a lie, that sounded so condescending it was ridiculous.  
"Oh Jesus, that's not what I meant!" She flustered with her words trying to make it better, and failing each time. She ran a hand through her hair, cheeks bright red. Steve made a face and waved off her apologies, walking away to check out more of the house.  
James shook her head, still embarrassed from the slip up. It hadn't been what she'd meant at all, but really, her missions rarely involved this much conversation and she suddenly wondered why the hell Fury thought she'd be the best for this assignment.

"So theres no food, but we have two options. We can order takeout tonight and go shopping tomorrow or we can go shopping now." James had followed Steve back out to the living room to avoid yelling. A puzzled look filtered across Steve's face as he pieced together what she was saying, and the Agent became minutely aware that he may have zero idea what takeout was.  
"I'm pretty hungry, so, the faster option?" The questioning glance he shot her confirmed her suspicions and she smiled kindly, whipping out her phone.  
"You like Italian?"   
"What, like, the people?"  
James stopped typing and looked up at him, squinting to see if he was being serious.  
"Uh, no, like the food..." She laughed a little and shook her head, searching for the closest Italian restaurant that delivered. Luckily they were in DC and were surrounded by delivery places.  
"The file they gave me said you metabolise food quickly, so I'll order a whole bunch and whatever we don't eat we can stick in the fridge." She told him absentmindedly, pointing toward the stainless steel refrigerator as she tapped away at the online ordering system. When she finished she shut her phone off, sticking it in her pocket and looking up at Steve who appeared to have been watching her closely the whole time. Realising she didn't know how much he knew about smart phones she pointed to the tech in her pocket.  
"Uhh I don't know if you know this, but you can do pretty much anything on phones nowadays... I just ordered dinner!" She explained, watching as Steve's frown deepened.  
"I've seen people talking on them and.... Texting?" He tasted the word on his tongue, unsure if it was correct.  
"But no, I didn't know that." James nodded in understanding, pulling her phone from her pocket, unlocking it and bringing up the home screen.  
"I did notice you had a pretty basic phone, this is what we call a Smart Phone... Or StarkPhone. Here, look..." She stepped closer and descended into Modern Technology 101.

By the time their food arrived, Steve had mastered the use of the Internet app... James had figured it was pretty important that he be able to search for things on his own, especially since he'd only been so friendly to her so far, and she figured his pride wouldn't let him ask her for help until he'd exhausted every other option. They had moved to the living room to eat, and the small brunette had to say she was very impressed with how quickly Steve picked up the lingo and uses of different apps, although he had figured out the Internet, he wasn't completely sold on the fact it held everything the world had to offer. In time he'd figure it out. Eventually they say back on opposite ends of the couch talking about a myriad of subjects, from history to advances in science and technology.

"I swear I'm not lying! It's actually super similar to the technology aircrafts use for homing in on moving targets, just far more improved.... And on a smaller scale." Steve was looking at her with uncertainty as James explained a weapon she had recently trialled in the field, it didn't work exactly as planned, but it was getting there.  
"So... All you do is set it up, and it finds the heat signatures... And takes them out?" The blonde repeated her oversimplified explanation and she nodded.  
"Yeah it's a bit more than that, but it's developed from some of Stark's tech so you know it's pretty snazzy." Steve frowned at the second mentioning of Stark and he wondered how big the company had gotten... And if Howard was still alive.  
"Stark Industries is still around?" He asked, testing the water around the subject. James mentally berated herself. She shouldn't have brought it up again, she really didn't want to be the one to tell him most of the people he knew where dead. She avoided his gaze, pursing her lips.  
"Uhh, yeah it's pretty much the largest company in the world right now. They've got their fingers in everything except weapons."  
Tony Stark's decision to pull their whole weapons division was a massive game changer, as the company had been developing weapons since its formation in the mid 1930's.  
"You knew Howard right? His son Tony runs everything now... Well actually I think Pepper Potts does since he's doing his Iron Man stuff." Steve frowned curiously.  
"Iron Man?"  
The question led to a two hour discussion aided by many YouTube'd news reels and video footage of Iron Man saving people, helping out, and of course the famous "I am Iron Man" press conference. By the end of it Steve's mind seemed to be rather blown as he sat quietly mulling over the information. He went to bed shortly after, having remained quiet for all the while they washed the dishes and James showed him how to correctly seal Tupperware containers so the food would last longer.

The Brunette gladly poured herself a glass of wine and retired to her own bedroom, pulling out her laptop and tapping away a few emails before casually searching news websites for anything interesting. She couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling she got after she had explained Iron Man to Steve and honestly, she thought he'd given her the cold shoulder, he was nowhere near as friendly after that conversation than he'd been all day, but James tried not to think about it... She supposed it would be weird for her to wake up in an entirely different time and hear about her dead friends children, If she had any friends that was.  
She sipped her wine and just as the thought crossed her mind, her phone vibrated, lighting up and displaying a text.

'Status Update? How did the Icecap settle in? - T'

Natasha wasn't exactly a friend, they were both two of Fury's 'special' agents and met on occasion, and the older woman remained in contact, but they rarely saw each other outside of work, and speaking honestly, Natasha scared James a small amount. She was after all the Black Widow. Picking up her phone, the brunette quickly tapped back a reply.

'I don't know, it was going well, but I told him about Tony and I think he hates me? - J'

'Weird. I'm sure you'll be fine, you're very likeable JJ. Goodnight :) - T'

James sighed, but frowned a little at the use of her infrequent nickname, and the fact she'd been called likeable. Most other SHIELD agents steered clear of her, or outright thought she was a freak. And she forgot how good a spy Natasha was sometimes, how she'd found out her first name when she was so insistent on erasing it from documents was beyond her. She sighed and closed her laptop, sticking her phone on charge and grabbing her towel and PJ's, heading towards the bathroom, more than ready to wash the day away.

 

The next few weeks passed much the same. Steve didn't speak all that much to her after the Iron Man conversation, and while he wasn't outwardly rude to her, they fell into a fairy cold routine. James tried her best not to let it get to her, but the agent couldn't help but wonder what exactly she had done to deserve the silent treatment from Captain America. She tried to start conversations or ask him if he wanted to explore the city, but he didn't really engage, speaking only when spoken too, unless he needed her help with something.  
Steve also 'spent a lot of time in his room' which was James' code for when he snuck out through his window and went to a cafe or park to draw. He thought she didn't know, but despite her meek appearance James was a remarkably good spy, She had followed him a few times, just to see what he was doing, and she was mildly surprised to see him pull a sketch book from his jacket and a pencil and begin drawing whatever took his fancy. Occasionally he would speak with passerby's, mostly dog owners who's pets had run up to greet him, but other than that he kept to himself. When he started heading home, James always made sure she was in before he was, not letting on to the fact she knew he was technically breaking the rules of not going anywhere without her. After the first week of following him, James wanted to stop, she felt so guilty spying on him, but she knew she had to have all eyes on him at all times, He was always so tense and terse when he was around her, but he always looked so relaxed when he was alone. She felt bad for even secretly invading that privacy.

A month into the mission James received a call from Director Fury, urgently needing her on an away an assignment. She had been sitting at the table doing a puzzle, Steve on the couch in front of her watching a documentary when she had gotten the call.

"Director Fury...?" She greeted cordially, and she noticed Steve's head turn a little, obviously listening in to the conversation.  
"James I need you in Moscow now." Fury's slightly distorted demand made the brunette sit up straighter, as she began to pack her puzzle away.  
"Of course Sir, when can I expect pickup?"  
"15 minutes. You won't have time to gear up on the jet, so be prepared." She looked up from the table, mind running with how quickly it took her to get dressed in her tact gear. She glanced towards Steve.  
"And Captain Rogers sir?"  
"Is not cleared for duty. I will be sending a replacement for you until you return. The dossier will be on the jet. Good luck Agent." Fury hung up quickly and James jolted into action, speed walking toward her bedroom where she shut the door hurridly, brushing her short curls back and pinning them out of her face, moving quickly to the closet.

She dressed quickly, a black SHEILD tactical suit, littered with gun holsters and utility pockets, rushing to stock every spot with a gun, grenade or some other weapon. She reached for her pistol, realising she had put it in her purse when they'd gone for groceries earlier, and she hadn't returned it to its case. Frowning at the thought of Steve seeing her decked out in weapons (she wasn't sure why exactly though), James left her bedroom, walking quickly to the kitchen counter where she'd put her bag down. Steve had conveniently gotten up to make coffee, and he stared at her as she entered the kitchen, the brunette pointedly ignoring his gaze as she checked the bullets in her gun, before shoving it into the spot on her thigh. Pulling out her tactical ear piece that she'd also left in her bag, James quickly attached it to her left ear, side eyeing the blonde who openly stared, making her feel self conscious.

"I've got to go, Fury needs me, when they pick me up, they'll be dropping another agent off to stay with you while I'm gone. Tops two days." She spoke quickly, pulling out her phone and checking the time.

'ETA 5 Minutes.'

Steve frowned, folding his arms over one another.  
"Why do I need an agent to watch me?" He begun and James, already stressed enough and her mindset moving into mission mode, put a hand to her head in a frustrated manner, holding another out to silence him.  
"Look I know you don't like me, but tough cookies, because it's my job to make sure no one tries to assassinate, and/or kidnap you when the intelligence community eventually figure out that Captain America is alive. Please just stay inside while I'm gone, and yes, that means no sneaking out to sketch pictures of strangers when you think I'm not paying attention." Steve blushed and unfolded his arms, his face turning bright red and he opened his mouth to defend himself but stopped short.  
"I don't know who this replacement is, and honestly I don't trust anyone's abilities but mine, and a few others whom I doubt will be available to babysit you, so please for gods sake, throw me a bone and behave for the new Agent." By the time she'd finished her rant, her phone was vibrating again and she looked up, a calmer expression on her face this time.  
"I need to go. Stay inside."

Steve was left standing in the kitchen, a little bit dumbfounded at his Agent's speech, and the fact she'd actually yelled at him. He did feel bad though, for treating her the way he had been. Obviously the whole 'help Captain Rogers adjust to the new world' stick was a clever lie to hide the true purpose of her mission, which was pretty much protect him from people who would want to exploit his super soldier enhanced body, but it sure hadn't helped him feel comfortable around what he thought had been a glorified babysitter, he was ashamed to say he'd been trying to ignore her unless absolutely necessary, when she had only been trying to do her job. Steve was also immensely embarrassed that James had known he'd been sneaking out, she never let on and so he'd assumed he'd gotten away with it, but not only had she known he had left, she'd known what he was doing. He had to give the petite agent more credit than he'd thought, he had had no idea she was following him the entire time, and she always appeared to be doing the same thing when he got back, than when he left.

Steve shook his head and was determined to make peace when she returned.


	2. Agent James and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James finds out somebody is actively trying to kill her, which is kind of her normal, kind of not.

While as a general rule missions in Russia never went well, this one had fucked up beyond normal.  
Technically she had completed her task in stealing an incriminating document, but she'd been caught and while escaping the enemy base, James had been shot in the right arm. She was far too sensible of a person to ever say she had an Arch Enemy, but if she were to favor the idea, Mikhail Morozov would take the title. 

Morozov had originally been a free agent for SHIELD back in the day, and after the KGB disbanded he was far too valuable as an asset to have as an enemy. But then he had heard rumours of the Eastern government shuffling a new Russian intelligence agency together and he'd jumped ship, abandoning a mission halfway through and leaving its team stranded. That had been James' first active duty mission as a SHIELD agent and she'd gotten her first lesson in how Spy's can go bad, having too many allegiances. She had always tried to be better than that, her survival did not come above the rest of the team, and she held to that belief. Morozov had been showing up more and more often the past few years, especially when the Russians were involved and he'd always known exactly how to disable the team; shoot out James' prominent arm, making her unable to use it. Unluckily for Mikhail this time, she'd been expecting it, and had been training her right side to be stronger. He hadn't been expecting the attack, but that's what happened when you became too comfortable in one solution.

James had managed to injure him badly enough that he'd had to retreat, unfortunately her own wound required immediate attention and the second part of her job would have to wait. She had hidden out in the SHIELD safe house until the evac. had arrived and she was shipped out of there.

"If you get shot one more time in this location, your muscle won't be able to repair itself. You could end up losing function- any kind of function." James bristled at the medics analysis, moving her shoulder in a circle to encourage blood flow. It wasn't as if it was her fault Morozov kept hitting the same place, he was purposefully trying to put her out of duty and it frustrated her more than she'd like to admit. She was just lucky it didn't break like it had 6 months ago.

"No problem, I'll just give him a call and tell him my head would be a better target next time." She whispered sarcastically and Doctor Kapoor rolled her eyes, placing the clipboard down and helping James into her hoodie.  
"Oh, I was also told that captain Rogers will be waiting for you here, to help you home." The taller woman said nonchalantly and the brunette exhaled an annoyed sigh.  
"What? Why? It's not like he can even drive?" She questioned, like the doctor would know the answer. As if reading her mind, Kapoor shrugged, turning back to her clipboard.  
"I want to see you again next week for a check up. You know how to keep it clean, so stay on it." With another sigh, James zipped her jacket up with one arm and stood, thanking the doctor and leaving the consultation room.

She was peeved that Steve was at the SHIELD HQ, mostly because she figured he'd annoyed his minder so much that they'd just given up and let him do what he wanted. She grunted under her breath at herself. She shouldn't think so poorly of him, he kind of had a reason to be grumpy, but he really didn't need to take it out on the people who were only trying to help him. Walking briskly through the corridors, she wondered where it was they'd be waiting when an excited call of her name caught her attention.

"Agent James! Thank god!" The small woman raised an eyebrow at the middle aged man who was quickly approaching her, having just turned the corner himself.  
"What can I do for yo-"  
"He's in the firing range."  
James forced a smile. Yep, she'd been right. The poor guy literally couldn't handle him anymore. What an asshole. She sighed for what felt like the fifth time in the last two minutes.  
"Alright, you're relieved Agent... go have a beer or something..." He'd started walking before she could reply, and James sighed, changing direction and headed toward the combat sim areas.

 

When James entered the range, she was glad he was the only other person there, she was feeling rather done with human interaction for the day, and wrangling him was enough as it were, so she decided to try and make peace.  
"Mhmm, didn't take you for a pistol kinda guy." She stated, leaning against the wall, before feeling the sharp stab of pain as she put pressure on her wound, moving almost instantly to the other arm.  
Steve looked at her over his shoulder, finished the round in the gun, and placed it on the tray in front of him, whipping off the glasses and earmuffs combo as he went.

"Fury said you got shot?" It wasn't really a question, and James refrained from glaring. He'd bothered Fury to ask about her? Or maybe Fury at updated him as this would change the dynamics until she healed...  
"Yep. Right in the delts." She lazily showed him her bright blue sling that peeked out from under her jacket. Steve raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms across his broad chest.  
"Is it bad?"  
"It's a gunshot wound." James deadpanned. Steve actually laughed then, and the agent raised her brows.  
"It's not the first time I've been shot and it's certainly not going to be the last." Her comment intrigued Steve a bit, wondering how often she didn't dodge, but he figured the question wouldn't exactly calm the waters between the two of them. Also he'd already gathered that it was a sniper, and they were generally just a bit harder to throw off. There was an awkward pause before Steve spoke up.  
"So uh, did the mission go well?" James gave him an incredulous look, as if he'd suddenly grown another head.  
"I got shot..." she emphasised each word like he was deaf and the blonde held hands up in defeat.  
"Right right... dumb question." It was James's turn to laugh, and once started she couldn't quite stop. Her hand was held over her mouth as she snickered and she made a noise of pain.  
"Can't even laugh without hurting, shit..." she sobered up as she tried adjusting the sling's strap, looking up at Steve when she saw him moving toward her in her peripheral.  
"There's a trick I learnt to slings when I was in the war..." he trailed off and James pulled her head backwards, giving him a clearer go at the wrap's ties. Steve untied it from her neck, repositioning the base and pinning it to the top of her hoodie.  
"...it's not medically correct, but it allows for more mobility." He took a step back and James tested it out, grinning up at the blonde when she could easily move about while still supporting the injured limb.  
"This would've been helpful the last time!" She exclaimed and Steve crossed his arms, unable to stop his line of questioning this time.  
"Last time? You've been shot there before?" He was confused more than anything, hell of a coincidence that she'd been shot in a similar place before, considering most snipers would go for the head or torso. James scrunched up her nose in a way that made her already baby face look even more childish.  
"Long story, I'll tell you on the way home."

\----

"So this..."  
"Morozov."  
"-Morozov, he's not trying to kill you, just disable you from active duty?" Steve had opened the door for James as she slunk inside with a quiet thank you and a thump of her bag on the hallway floor. She should really put it away, but she was feeling ridiculously lethargic now. As she made her way to the couch she passed the kitchen, remembering how she'd yelled at Steve before she had left. He really had deserved the talking to she gave him, but she hoped they'd be passed that now, and they seemed to be, hell he'd actually spoken to her at length about how different the city was on the way home, and listened to her explain her current debacle.

James all but collapsed on the sofa, blocking out the late afternoon sun with her hand.  
"Mhnn. He's a real asshole, likes his mind games. The worst part is, I never can pick out when he's going to show up, so it's not even like I can prepare for it." James had been complaining about work since they'd gotten a company driver to take them home, and she honestly didn't think she'd spoken so openly with someone about her job since she'd been initiated. It's not like any of the other agents really spoke to her, and she didn't have any friends on the outside world. The petite brunette frowned realising how much of a loser she was, but the thought was replaced by another, more pressing matter.  
She sat up suddenly as Steve entered the room, a deep frown on her face. She hadn't really thought about it before, she had assumed Morozov had always been working for/with the targets of her missions, but now that the brunette thought about it, that didn't make any sense. How would he have known which jobs were going to be assigned to her so as to set himself up with the target? Unless there was a leak within SHIELD (highly unlikely) there was no possible explanation for that theory, and even then it had the same outcome as the one that was now dawning on her. Steve watched a display of emotions flicker over the Agent's face, as he took a seat on the opposite couch, watching her carefully as she stood and walked to her room, and returned with a box, the same confused array of emotions on her face as she plonked back down.

Placing the box at her feet, Steve could now see it was filled with Manila looking folders which she grabbed by the handful, starting with the top one, practically tearing it open as she scanned its pages, grabbing a pair of reading glasses from the side table. Steve looked around the room, unsure of where her thoughts had taken her in the middle of their conversation.

"James?" He questioned after a moment, making the short woman look up startled, like she had forgotten he was in the room.  
"Shit, sorry, I uh, just had an idea occur to me..." She trailed off, biting her lip in a nervous manner, seemingly looking right through the blonde as he stared at her.  
"It's... more worrying than my initial analysis of Morozov's behaviour." She continued chewing her lip until she tasted blood at which point she slammed the file shut. She already knew she was right, and honestly rereading her reports was just delaying her from acknowledging the truth. Mikhail Morozov was specifically targeting her, it was so obvious now she wanted to smack herself in the bullet wound.

Steve nodded, feigning like he understood (however poorly) and stood, seeing his handler was now in a dazed mood and all in her head, he may as well figure something out for dinner, not realising the ramifications of her discovery. He was sure they had plenty of leftovers. James sat still on the couch, staring off into space the frown not having left her face since she'd entered their home and it was beginning to give her a headache. The realisation panicked her more than she'd like to have thought it would, but in all honestly, she'd never been the long term target of an assassin. She would need to inform Fury as soon as possible, this had been going on for the past year and she worried, knowing Mikhail's patience would last only so long.

James could hear Steve clanging around in the kitchen and it drew her attention. For the sake of his safety, he'd probably need to be assigned to someone else and the idea kind of made her sad, but relieved at the same time. They'd only just started getting along and despite his initial behaviour towards her, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy to most other people (people who weren't SHIELD agents assigned to watch him). Not to mention it was 100% her guilty pleasure to watch him when he came back from his runs in the morning. James actually grinned slightly at the thought. But the worry came back as soon as it had left and the agent could easily say she'd never felt as vulnerable. She whipped out her phone, hesitating before shooting off a quick text.

 

'If not busy, can we have eyes on the apartment the next few days?' - J

 

It wasn't long before the reply came back, the few words already helping James feel safer.

 

'C and I both are receiving the feeds now. Coffee tomorrow?' - T

 

The brunette sighed, she had even less motivation to leave the home than she usually did.

 

'Can’t. Sorry.' - J

 

Nat informed her that they’d be keeping tabs on them until called off and James took a few slow breaths, already feeling her heart rate going down. She needed to talk to Fury as soon as possible, and while she wasn’t keen on calling, she was even less keen to leave the house.

"There's soup leftovers and lasagna leftovers. Take your pick." Steve had leant in from the kitchen holding the two containers in his hands. It took James one quick look and she shrugged.  
"Whichever has less in it, you eat way more." Steve nodded once, returning to the kitchen. The young woman stood slowly and followed him, leaning against the farthest counter, an unreadable expression on her face.  
“I need to make a call. Eat without me…” She dawdled off, mind completely taken over by the fact she was now the subject of a master assassins plans. It wasn’t as if no one had ever tried to kill her before, because they definitely had, almost on a daily basis. But the fact that Mikhail had been toying with her for the past year, constantly taking her out of the field and leaving her defenceless, that she couldn’t handle as well (She wasn’t exactly defenceless, her hand to hand and weapons training were exceptional, but with her right arm out she was unable to fire a gun, punch or shoot a blast of ice at him). The worst part was, she genuinely didn’t know when he was going to strike next.  
She’d called Fury from the safety of her windowless bedroom, trying her hardest not to stress-yell. As close as they were, this was still a work call and he was still her boss in this situation.  
“My primary objective here is to keep Captain Rogers out of danger, the best course of action would be to replace me while I go dark and shake him off.”  
“The best course of action James, is for you to stay exactly where you are. I mean it, immediately going dark after he’s shot you would let Morozov know you’re onto him. Think about this like an assignment…” Fury prompted gruffly.  
“I need to act like I know nothing while someone else corners him from behind.” The brunette stated matter of factly. Fury was right, if she played this smart, they’d get him faster than they would if she were to just drop off the map. She could hear the Director chuckle in amusement.  
“And I know just the spider for the job…”

\---

“I had no idea you could cook?” Steve questioned as he entered the kitchen seeing James leaning over a large pot on the stove. He noted with fondness the footstool she stood on. The brunette turned slightly towards him with a grin.  
“I have a lot of spare time going to and from assignments, so I started reading cookbooks.” She explained with a shrug, turning back to the task at hand. Steve nodded and leant against the counter. It had been two weeks since her return from the mission that she'd been shot on and Steve had been surprised to find out her wound had healed almost fully in that time, and he guessed that had something to do with whatever capabilities she had.  
“So cooking… Any other hobbies?” If they were going to be living together until he was cleared for duty, he may as well get to know her more than he already did. James stood back from the stove, placing the lid on the pot and turning fully toward the blonde.  
“I like doing puzzles?” She answered, albeit a little hesitantly. Truth was, she had a lot of hobbies and a lot of time spent to herself.  
“Uh… and yourself?” She supposed that was the correct response and frowned, realising she already knew the answer.  
“Sketching mostly.” Steve scratched at the base of his neck, and the pair both smiled awkwardly, remembering all too clearly the day she’d yelled at him about sneaking out to draw.  
“That’s… cool…” James supplied, pressing her lips together. She wasn’t good at small talk. A conversation that had a point? Sure, but she’d never quite perfected her ‘chatting’ skills and it often left her in awkward and uncomfortable situations, with the people around her thinking she was more of a freak than they already pinned her as. The short woman looked around the room, thinking about failed social interactions was making her even more nervous.

Steve cocked his head, his brow furrowing slightly and he crossed his arms. She always seemed like she didn't quite know what to do with herself when he’d tried talking to her. If she had something to say, she’d get rather excited and stumble over her words, but she didn't really appear to know how to navigate general interaction, he’d noticed this while out in public at the grocery store or with other tenants in the building and he came to realise that she was rather shy, preferring to sit in comfortable silence, which Steve was more than happy to do. But he had begun wondering why her social skills seemed so stunted, it wasn’t as if she wasn’t friendly and didn't seem to not like interacting with people (and she had a wicked sense of humour when she’d come out of her shell enough), it was just that she never seemed to know what to do, like her confidence had all but dwindled outside of mission situations. He’d gotten his answer on their last trip to the SHIELD HQ for her doctors visit. Steve had never worked for an organisation like SHIELD before, but he’d expected coworkers who risked their lives on the daily to be rather close to one another and share a sense of camaraderie, and they did, but they also seemed to keep James at arms length, some even showing outright disdain for her presence. She had needed to return to her desk for some things while they were there, and he had immediately noticed how tense she was stepping off the elevator, and the dirty looks she received from around the office.

Later on the car ride home, Steve had asked James about it, but she’d only shrugged noncommittally, claiming she didn't know.  
The super soldier got to wondering how or why someone who avoided confrontation as much as she did and let her colleagues walk all over her, got into being a spy. 

 

Bringing himself back to the present, Steve pushed off the counter and put the kettle on, intending to make a cup of coffee.  
“How’s your, uh, list going?” James asked after a few minutes. She knew Steve was trying to make an effort and she felt bad for being such an awful conversation partner. The blonde in question nodded, reaching up to grab two plain white mugs from the overhead cupboard, knowing that the short woman never turned down a coffee.  
“So far I’ve crossed a few things off… But I feel like every time I finish something, two more get added.” The defeated tone in his voice made James frown a little and she shrugged apologetically.  
“Well, you do have 70 years worth of history to catch up on…” She trailed off, a ping on her phone catching her attention and she picked it up silently, her eyes flickering across the screen.  
“You don’t have to do it all at once…” She continued to speak distractedly and Steve nodded to himself. She actually had a good point there, it wasn’t as if he only had a few months to learn it in. He had the rest of his life. James sighing brought his attention back to her and she placed her phone down noisily.

“Anything important?” She hadn’t mentioned once since she’d first come back anything about Morozov, and whatever discovery she had made had obviously been pushed from her thoughts, but Steve began to wonder if this was more for his sake than hers.  
“A little… That was just the SHIELD administrative office. They want to know when you’re coming down to fill out forms.” James turned back towards the soup in the pot on the stove, giving it a few good stirs and turning it down to simmer.  
“Forms for what?” Steve himself began focusing on making coffee as the kettle ‘dinged’ and James shot him an odd look before realising she hadn’t yet explained her ongoing struggle with the recruitment department.  
“Oh, uh, well, since you woke up, I think SHIELD has just assumed you’ll sign up with them…” She purposefully left out the part about Fury’s little team, he wasn’t even cleared for duty yet, let alone been out of the ice long enough to figure out what he wanted to do with this new life of his.  
“And i’ve been staving them off for you… On your behalf… I guess…” She jumped down from the footstool once more and fiddled nervously with her hands when Steve gave her a confused look.  
“...Why?”  
James sighed loudly, gathering up the dishes she’d been using and taking them to the sink, avoiding Steve’s gaze.  
“Because you’ve barely been awake two months! For all they know you may not even want to go back into the field!” In truth, the blonde hadn’t really given much thought to doing anything but going back into the field… Not that he didn’t wanted to do something else, he just hadn’t thought about it. He nodded his head slowly in thought.  
“Thank you.” He said suddenly, taking the few short steps to the sink and placing James’ coffee down beside her. He stood closer to her than he ever had before and as she turned to look at him he noticed the small amount of freckles that covered her nose and cheeks and almost seemed like they were printed on her speckled hazel eyes. James looked entirely uncomfortable with his proximity, but he got the feeling she was like that with anyone who stood too close.  
“Um… You’re welcome?”

Steve took a step back, bringing his own mug to his mouth and taking a sip, giving her a curt nod.  
“Let them know I’ll think about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're nearing the start of the Avengers now! I'd like to thank my partner for ongoing support, Erin for helping me come up with a title and my computer for not dying. I would also like to note that i know literally nothing about gunshot wounds or anything medical to do with them, my only excuse is that James does have some accelerated healing, so her body would take such a wound better than most.


	3. Josephine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James finishes up her assignemt with Steve.

“What would you do?” The question startled James and she looked up from the tray of puzzle pieces in front of her. She’d spent so long looking at the angular shapes, the form of Steve’s face didn't quite register until he repeated his question.  
“What would I do… about what?” She frowned, trying to think if he had been talking previously and she just hadn’t heard, too wrapped up in finding the correct fragment for the 1000 piece puzzle they had been working on for the better part of the afternoon.  
“If you were me, what would you do once you’d been cleared… How would you… Start over?” He was looking at her through his eyelashes, a colourful piece trapped between his fingers, feeling along the edges as if the touch would give him the answers he so desired. The question stumped James. She’d never been given the choice, for her it was always SHIELD, and for her it would _always be_ SHIELD. The circumstances surrounding her… birth saw that she’d have no alternative options in life. The flickering of the sun through the living room blinds caused her to snap back to reality, blinking away the thoughts as quickly as they came. Truth was, that she had never given it thought, not even once, and she wasn’t quite sure how to say that now to a man who had all options open before him.  
“I… I don’t know…” Steve placed the piece in his hand down clicking it into position, forming a little more of the landscape they were slowing building.

  
“Would you join SHIELD again, if you were to start over anew?” The blonde leant forward slightly, genuinely interested in his Agent’s answer. He’d been debating his choices intensely over the past few months, and now that James’ time with him would be coming to an end within the week, he wanted to hear her opinion. If somebody had told him when they first met that they’d end up being friends, Steve probably would have laughed.  
But here they were, doing their third puzzle of the week and discussing his future.

  
“Definitely.” James nodded matter of factly, and it was true. SHIELD had given her everything and she never regretted a single day of service to them. She ran a hand through her short curls, effectively ruffling up her own hair.  
“Look, SHIELD is a good place, you could make a difference with them… Get back to being Captain America! But it’s up to you, and that’s all i was really trying to do. Make sure that you actually wanted to go back into field work.” James pursed her lips. Steve was really the only friend she had at this point, and even then they’d known each other less than six months and after she signed off this week, she would probably never see him again. He’d move right on and she would go back to work as usual. But she still wanted him to make the right choice for himself.  
“I-if I were you… I’d take the opportunity to just be Steve Rogers for a while. Just because they’re clearing you for duty doesn’t mean you need to make the decision then and there.”

  
\---

  
Steve had grown fond of James, once they’d started talking more it hadn’t taken long, and he’d regretted ever having tried ignoring her in the first place. She was quiet and gentle, but at the same time she could be loud and imposing and the blonde found the mix to be endearing. His only qualm was with her lack of confidence around anyone else, and he could easily see the way that people treated her in the past had affected her greatly. Even with him she would often reign herself in when she felt she was taking up too much space.

  
“You ready?!” James turned to him, an excited grin on her face and raised an eyebrow at her enthusiasm.  
“Can't wait to get rid of me?” He asked as he opened the passenger side door climbing out of the car in sync with the smaller woman who was rolling her eyes.  
“Don't be an asshole. I’m excited for you.” It was Steve's turn to roll his eyes as they met up around the front of the car, walking towards the elevator that would take them from SHIELD’s parking garage to the HR department.  
“Have you been to New York before?” Steve asked casually and James nodded.  
“Mmh. Only for work though so not that much sight seeing.” The blonde side eyed her as they approached the elevator, James stepping forward and punching the ‘up’ button.  
“Maybe you should come out and visit, if it's still what I remember, I'm sure you’ll like it.” he responded as the doors opened, and they both made their way inside, clicking the fourth floor button and waiting for their arrival.  
“Lots of places to blend in and disappear… what's not to like.”  
“Exactly.”  
They shared a smile as the doors slid open with a ping and they were greeted with the bustling fourth floor of the SHIELD HR department. Steve had decided to take James’ advice once he'd been cleared, and was moving back to New York, hoping that his home city would spur him into a new life, whether that would be with SHIELD or whatever. The HR department had handled everything from finding Steve an apartment to booking his flights and shipping his things, and they were only here to finish signing a last few legal documents before his departure later in the afternoon. He was glad to be going home.

  
The pair were quickly swallowed up into an office where Steve swore he signed fifty pieces of paper and James sat quietly next to him, avoiding the gaze of the department head, who was personally handling the matter.  
“Oh, and here Agent James, I will need you to sign, stating that you are officially signing off on Captain Rogers reentry into the field… should he choose to come back to us…” Steve looked toward James who nodded, rubbing her hands together discreetly before accepting the offered pen. He watched as she printed her name, signed next to it, and slid back into her chair without so much as a word.  
“And now your signature Captain, just next to Agent James’ here.”

  
Steve's eyes quickly caught up to where the suit had pointed and he scribbled his name neatly in the line, eyes flickering to where James’ full name sat printed next to his.

  
_Josephine James_

  
The blonde had completely forgotten that James _wasn't_ her first name and his mind trailed back to the day they'd first met, and she had declined to tell him what it was. He was sure she could have gotten away with printing ‘Agent James’ but she hadn't, and he felt some small amount of pride in having earned that much trust.

  
The rest of the meeting went quickly and when they had finished Steve had suggested they go for one last walk in the park near their old apartment (which both of them had moved out of now).

  
“What will you do now?” Steve's question sent James’ mind back to Mikhail Morozov who had all but disappeared about a month ago, and the permission to find him she had gotten from Fury when she had finished with Steve.  
“I’ll resume my normal intake of assignments… but there's someone I need to find first.”  
“Morozov?” James’ head snapped toward the blonde, who had pulled his sketch book out and was pencilling a drawing she couldn't quite see on the page. She was surprised he had remembered who he was, but then again, she hadn't spoken to him of any other missions so it wasn't all that odd.  
“Yeah… He’s gone dark after practically stalking my every move for a year and a half… I'm not too keen on letting him find me, so I'm going to get to him first.” Steve stopped in his movements and looked up at his friend who was chewing her lip and staring straight ahead.  
“Are you in danger?” He asked as casually as he could. He knew she came into contact with threats of all sorts on almost a daily basis, but he was still concerned. Especially after what She had told him of this Morozov, who was apparently, a master assassin. James made a face and nodded, finally tearing her eyes away from the tree in front of her to look him in the eye.  
“Yeah… yeah I am. But it'll deal with it. And if not, you’ll have to kick his ass for me.” She joked dryly, and Steve huffed out his own jolt of laughter, not finding the joke particularly funny, but knowing that spies generally had a weird sense of humour when it came to death.

 

\---

  
James drove him to the airport that afternoon, waited with him at the terminal, and waved him off when he disappeared down the walkway. She’d given him her email, work phone and the number of someone named Natasha for if he ever got in trouble and he couldn't get into contact with herself or Fury. Steve had engulfed her in a large hug before he'd left. He knew she wasn't big on physical contact but she had welcomed this one and held him tightly, patting his back when she felt it was too much. He couldn't help but notice how cold she felt, even through the jacket she wore.

  
“Good luck! Call me anytime!” James stuffed her hands in her hoodies front pockets, smiling sadly as they said their final goodbyes.  
“Same goes for you. And if you're ever in New York, stop by.” Steve replied, pursing his lips. He was going to miss her, but ultimately he felt he needed to go his own way, figure out this new world for himself. James had taught him enough to get by and now it was up to him. He nodded at her one last time before entering the boarding station, disappearing behind the curved walkway of the jet bridge.

 

  
James sighed, but pulled out her phone, immediately opening the file Natasha had sent her after her investigation had let up.

She had an Assassin to hunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! The last chapter before moving on to The Avengers! Just a short one 
> 
> I would like to thank everyone who has read this so far and to everyone subscribed or leaving Kudos ❤️ It really means a lot to me. James is such a special character and I have so much more for her and I really cannot wait to get into the MCU properly now!
> 
> Thank you again to Erin who always has an open ear, to Amy for your sweet-ass praise and to my partner, who I think wants to beat me to death with my commas at this point <3


	4. The Avengers - 'Extra Pieces'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tesseract has been stolen by Loki and his goons, forcing SHIELD into a level seven disaster response. Which would have been all fine and dandy if it hadn't of interrupted James' revenge scheme.

Agent Josephine James had been tracking Russian intelligence officer Mikhail Morozov for the better part of a year, and finally, she was she’d found him. She raced down the streets of Venice, dodging tourists and locals alike as she chased after Morozov who was doing his damnedest to get away. He had been completely dark for almost seven months, untraceable and unobtainable, complete radio silence. It was almost as if he had never existed in the firsts place. Except he had, and he’d tried to kill James, which she wasn’t very happy about.

She gained some ground on him, if she reached out she could probably grab the hood of his coat, but she waited, knowing that a stumble at this point could set her too far behind.

Her earpiece pinged with the crackle of radio.

“James I need you to come in.” After being alone for a year, with hardly any contact from SHIELD, the sound of her earpiece finally coming to life was actually comforting. But she didn't need comfort right now, she needed justice and she growled unintentionally.

“Bit busy right now Coulson.” Her voice was breathy and deep as she levelled it to sound understandable.

“I know, we have eyes on you, but we need you to come _now_.” The brunette hurtled over a fallen stall that Morozov had thrown down and kept going, barely missing a passerby.

“I have been on him for a year, unless the world is ending, I'm not going anywhere.” She ground out as she jumped up and grabbed the roof of a low gazebo, seeing a direct path to the rooftop. God she loved being able to employ parkour.

“Director Fury is asking for you himself. This is a level seven-” Coulson continued to plead but he went dark for a moment when James jumped from a balcony directly on top of Mikhail. They slammed to the ground with a hard crash, but the younger woman soon found herself being thrown off.

“-we are currently pulling togeth-”

James threw a well placed punch to Morozov’s ribs and he grunted out in pain, grabbing her collar and throwing her into the ground with a thump.

“-Natasha is in Indi-”

The brunette brought her leg up and around the lanky man’s shoulder, forcing him back as she tackled him once again, landing a good punch to the face before his hands came up to her throat.

“-is compromised and the Campu-”

Morozov squeezed her neck tight and punched her in the face, pushing her off of him and into the dirt. James replied with two ice cold fingers to his eyes as he punched her again.

“-The Tesseract was stolen!”

The two spies managed to split apart and James put a finger to her ear.

“What?!”

“The Tesseract was stolen. This is a level seven. You need to come in.” Morozov took her distraction as an exit and ran, disappearing into the crowd that had surrounded them as James got to her feet, blood pouring from her nose and hand feeling like it had been left in the freezer for six hours.

“Son of a bitch!”

“I need you in New York.”

“ _Son_ of a bitch…!”

“We need you to bring Cap in when you get there.”

“Son of a _bitch!_ ”

 

\---

 

James had the strangest sense of deja vu. She was stood at the entrance to an old-school gym, watching as Steve pounded the living shit out of a punching bag. He’d gotten a haircut since she had last seen him, and bulked up a little too. She tried to keep her eyes evenly on his back and not his ass as he went through the boxing routines and she half expected him to call out to her, catching her off guard like he had a year and a half ago when they'd met. But the longer she stood there the more James realised he wasn't focused on anything at all, let alone her presence at the door. Even his punches became sloppy and he stopped pulling them, resulting in the bag flying off its hook, hitting the ground at least three meters away and bursting. The petite woman couldn't help but jump back at the impact, her fingers curling tightly around the edge of the file she held, crushing in the sides.

“You used to do puzzles when you couldn't sleep!” She exclaimed as he grabbed another bag from the six already lined up and hung it on the hook.When he heard her voice, Steve’s head whipped to the side, taking in her appearance, and the file she held.

He didn't smile or move away from the bag.

“You look like hell.” He stated evenly, throwing a few softer punches at the new target. James scoffed. He was definitely in some kinda mood, and she intended to fix that. After all, he was still pretty much the only friend she had.

“Hi Josie, so good to see you, how long’s it been? A year? You look great!” She mocked his low voice as she stepped further into the gym, well aware of the fact her face looked like shit.

Steve side eyed her.

“I’ve never called you Josie.” He replied a little lighter, the hint of a smile forming at the corner of his lips.

“Mhmm, if you hear me out I may just let you.” She sat on the edge of the nearby bleachers, opening the file and handing it to Steve when he took a step towards her, eyes taking in her injuries fully before focusing on the pages in front of him.

“Hydra’s secret weapon.”

“Mhm, and when Howard Stark fished it out of the ocean while looking for you,” Their eyes met and James realised he may not have known that, but she'd never lied to him before, and there was no reason to start now.

“He thought what SHIELD thought; that the tesseract could work as a unlimited power source…” Steve closed the file, handing it back to her with a nod.

“Who took it?” He asked, beginning to unwrap his hands.

“His name is Loki and he’s… not from around here.” James bit her lip, not wanting to explain the entirety of New Mexico to him right now.

“Look, Steve, there's a lot that's changed, you know that. But if you're in we’re gonna need to bring you up to speed on what's been happening.” She wasn't entirely sure if he was ready to see half of the shit that was going on under the surface at SHIELD, herself included, but truth be told, they needed him.

“I doubt anything would surprise me at this point.” He stated, a little petulantly if she did say so herself. But she smiled, standing as he grabbed his bag.

“$10 bucks says you're wrong!” She sing-songed and Steve raised an eyebrow. He'd really missed her.

 

“You know, something's changed about you.” He said as they walked towards the exit.

“I _don't_ need reminding of my broken nose…”

“No, you seem different… more confident.” He looked down at her thoughtfully and James scoffed.

“Just wait until we get back to SHIELD headquarters.” Steve smirked and shook his head, holding the door for her as the exited the gym.

“Can I really call you Josie?”

 

\---

 

“Where have you been?” Steve wondered aloud as he unlocked the door to his apartment. It was in a low key building just out of the center of town, close enough to walk in though. James cast a curious eye around what she could see of the home, totally unsurprised by the spartan nature of his decor. He seemed to have what was needed, but other than that, it looked like a display home almost totally unlived in compared to the apartment they used to share in DC. James tutted under her breath.

“Uh, England, Russia, _Italy_.” She didn't mean to spit the last word as much as she had, but in all honesty she was still pissed off that Morozov got away.

“You never answered any of my emails?” He questioned and she turned toward him slowly, quilt rising in her chest.

“I couldn’t. I was… off the grid.”

“But you got them?”

“Yes…”

Steve made a ‘hmnf’ noise as he hung his gym bag on the hook near the door, walking past her and into the living room.

“Coffee?” He called from the small, open kitchen already setting the kettle on. James accepted, taking a seat on the plain reddish-brown couch when offered. She bit into her lip, chewing on it in thought as her mind raced. She’d felt bad never being able to reply, but she hadn’t wanted to risk her whole operation in case, somehow, Morozov had access to and was watching her online activity (which he most certainly would have been). The blonde returned to the room quickly, handing her the mug of freshly poured coffee.

“I’m going to shower and change, make yourself comfortable.” Steve told her gesturing to the bedroom that was directly off of the living room space. James thanked him for the coffee and watched as the door clicked shut. Sighing in relief that she was (maybe) off the hook for ignoring him, the brunette placed her coffee on the table in front of her, quickly grabbing a coaster when she noticed them off to the side, wiping away any steam marks she may have left on the glass surface. She sat still in relative silence for several minutes, eyes moving around the room until they landed in front of her, on her coffee again. She could hear the shower turn off and movement in the room ahead of her. James squinted slightly, realising she recognized the image printed on the mug.

“Steve, is this Eilean Donan Castle?” she called out, picking up the cup and confirming what she’d just asked. She was staring at it intently when the door to the bedroom opened, revealing a half dressed Steve, who was finishing buttoning up his checked shirt.

“I found it a while back. It was the same exact picture from the puzzle we could never figure out so I bought it in case you ever came to New York.” He grinned like a child on christmas and James shook her head.

“I swear we were missing pieces!”

“Or had extra ones…” They both laughed at that, it seemed the type of spiteful behaviour someone who made puzzles would be capable of.

“You almost ready?” The small woman asked softly when they’d sobered up, placing the now empty cup back down on the coaster in front of her. Steve nodded, disappearing into his bedroom quickly to grab a brown leather jacket, closing the door behind him when he reappeared. James smiled awkwardly and pressed her lips together.

“I hate to sound like your handler again, but do you have your phone… and its charger?” She was half being serious and half joking, the fact that Steve always forgot to charge his phone (and other electronic devices) and then got confused when they died suddenly never ceased to make the curly haired woman laugh. And she did as such when he sheepishly returned to the bedroom, coming back with his phone and the little portable charging device she’d given him a year ago.

“Shall we get going then? I know Coulson is excited to meet you…” She trailed off at Steve’s questioning glance as he locked up the apartment.

“Who?”

“Oh never mind. You’ll see.”

 

\---

 

After taking the sweating super soldier home for a shower and a change of clothes, James had driven straight to the airport, where Agent Coulson had been waiting for them on the airstrip, a neat little quinjet fired up and ready to go.

Coulson and James had never been particularly close, but he had never treated her like any of the other Agents had and so she had a certain amount of respect for the man. She held her lips together in a tight smile when she had introduced him to Steve, it was a well known fact the agent had a major man-crush on the former war hero, she was surprised he hadn't texted her everyday about him when she was still assigned to him.

During take off, they all took their seats, Coulson at a small console and James next to Steve who was busily reading through the profiles of the other members he’d be working with. Most of it made sense to him until he got to Doctor Bruce Banner, and James saw his brow begin to furrow.

“So this Doctor Banner… he was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?” James looked up from her tablet at the question and Coulson made his way over to stand beside them.

“A lot of people were…” His eyes flickered to James’ who face was unwillingly contorted in a snarl, an expression she relaxed when realised she was making it, thankful that Steve hadn't seen. She stood suddenly, not actually knowing if her file was in Steve’s documents or not, and walked toward the long range scanner station. The idea made her wholly uncomfortable.

“Banner thought gamma radiation might unlock the key to recreating Erskine’s original formula.” Steve tapped play on the holographic display, and watched in muted horror as The Hulk destroyed Harlem.

“Didn't really go his way did it?” Coulson pursed his lips.

“Not so much. When he's not like that though, he's like Stephen Hawking.” The admiration was clear in the Agent’s voice and James did a half turn, actually wondering if Steve knew who Hawking was. She was answered with a questioning gaze.

“Einstein.” She supplied over her shoulder, knowing that would've had science geeks everywhere having aneurysms. Steve nodded in understanding, turning back to the tablet in front of him. Coulson caught her eye and James raised an eyebrow at the giddy expression on his face. In her hand, her phone pinged with a message.

 

‘Fury needs to talk to you ASAP. What's your ETA?’ -Hill

 

James looked up at the scanner, seeing their destination begin to blip into range. She knew exactly what it was Fury wanted to talk about and honestly she had no interest in rehashing the argument. Four years ago he’d devised a plan, Earth’s last defenses type thing. Only problem was that his two main candidates both refused to join. James could say pretty definitely that that was the only thing she and Stark had ever agreed on. She didn't want any part then, and she didn't want any now. She wasn't going to join any team, she didn't want the attention and she was fairly certain no one wanted to give it to her.

“I gotta say Sir, it's an honour to meet you…!” Coulson’s voice brought James back to the present and she shoved her phone in her pocket. If Hill was on the carrier then she could easily find out their ETA, if she didn't already know. Steve looked back up at the other Agent, a smile forming on his face. He was about to reply when Coulson spoke again.

“I mean, I sort of met you. I watched you, while you were sleeping.” Steve's face fell, and while he knew the man wasn't trying to be odd, it certainly came out that way. James on the other hand slapped a hand over her mouth, trying to muffle the laughter that was threatening to burst out. she may have been one of the most awkward people on the earth when it came to social interaction, but at least she'd never said _that_. Steve glared at her from across the room and he stood, moving to watch the quickly approaching helicarrier from beside her as Coulson tried making amends, eventually changing the subject and bringing up Steve’s old uniform.

“Aren't the Stars and Stripes a little bit… old fashioned?” The blonde seemed surprised, he looked over at James who shrugged. She’d had almost zero contact with SHIELD for the past year.

“Sir, I think with everything that's going on right now, the world just might need a little old fashioned.”

James hung her head in agreement. The other Agent was right. Besides, she also really wanted to see Steve in the suit if it was anywhere near as tight fitting as it was back in the day. The brunette scrunched her face at her own train of thoughts, and took a peek at where Steve was standing, leaning on the overhead railing and discussing something with Coulson.

Over the course of her year searching for Morozov, she'd developed somewhat of a crush on Steve, but it wasn't really _him_ she had a crush on… more so the fact that he was a young, attractive person who wasn’t totally repulsed by her presence. It was the _idea_ of Steve that had her blushing when she looked at his arms as they tensed with the jerky movements of the quinjet, definitely not the man himself… she knew him pretty well at this point and he was as much of a dork as she was. He just came across cooler on the outside.

 

“If everyone could buckle in, we’re about to land.” The pilot called back, making the three still standing return to their original seats, clicking the buckles into place across their hips. James glared down at the adjustable strap, which was pulled to its tightest and still way too big. From beside her Steve nudged her in the side.

“Might be time to start working out.” He joked, reaching down and grabbing the belt, unbuckling it, loosening it and then clicking it into place over his own lap and into the buckle on the other side of him. It was tight now, a bit too tight and their thighs were pressing into each other but James smiled anyway, despite the thoughts racing through her head.

“Thanks…” she focused on the bay in front of her, feeling as Steve’s leg began to bounce up and down. She was probably freezing his leg and she attempted to subtly angle away, to no avail. The strap was too tight. As they began circling the landing pad, James’ phone went off again, and she managed to squeeze it from her pocket, the screen lit up with another message.

 

‘Am waiting for you on top deck, Fury wants to talk. Will take care of the IceCap.’ - T

 

James sighed. She was hoping that in the flurry of the excitement of taking off she’d be able to avoid him for an hour or two. Alas it wasn't meant to be. She let her head fall against the back of the chair she was in, preemptively regretting everything that was to come in the next hours. Upon landing, the brunette quickly jumped from the quinjet, already seeing Natasha approaching, it had probably been about two years since she'd last seen the woman in person and she wasn't surprised to find that she had a different haircut. James smiled thinly, as Coulson and Steve joined her on the Tarmac.

 

“Agent Romanov…” The male agent said in greeting and he and Nat shared a look.

“We’d better be going Agent James.” As Coulson began to walk toward the innards of the carrier, James waved him off.

“Give me a minute…”

“You know Director Fury doesn't do ‘minutes’” he called back humorously, but left her anyway, knowing it had been awhile since she'd last seen any of this. Natasha nodded at her face.

“I hope the other guy looks worse.” She stated, eyes running the length of the nasty bruising around her forehead and eye.

“He’s gonna look dead when I find him again.” She seethed, hating the constant reminder that Morozov _was still out there_. James sighed, gesturing toward Nat with a lazy hand.

“Steve this is Agent Natasha Romanov.” The pair shook hands and the brunette could see her colleague sizing him up, looking for weakness, or mentally figuring out how she’d take him down. It was a bad habit most hardcore agents were into doing, but it had definitely saved her life on more than one occasion. She touched Steve lightly on his arm.

“Director Fury needs to speak with me so I’ll leave you with Natasha for now.” Steve frowned a little, he could practically see her personality shrink away as the stress of being around other SHIELD employees took over. He nodded simply, shoving his hands in his pockets. James shot him a reassuring, if not nervous smile and left them. She wondered how the others were arriving, looking to avoid a certain iron-clad billionaire as best she could, but was drawn back to the real world when she spotted Coulson waiting by the elevator that would take them to the main deck.

“You know I volunteered for that assignment?” He asked casually as they waited for the compartment to move and James bit back a smile.

“Yeah, I think you would have got it too if you hadn't been called to New Mexico.” The pair exchanged glances, shuffling to the back when the doors opened and two more SHIELD employees stepped aboard.

“Fury was going to have you get Stark too. I told him it probably wasn't the best idea.” He said quietly and the brunette groaned, turning to look at Coulson for a brief moment.

“I'm not sure I'm ready to deal with him yet.”

“None of us are ever _ready_ to deal with him…” The pair snickered a little as the doors opened and they stepped out into the bustling bridge. In front of them was a large conference table, around it littered workstations, SHIELD employees at every one checking the Helicarriers systems and functions. Split up the middle of the room was a walkway, at the end a command station where Director Fury stood tall, nodding minutely as Maria Hill read off of a checklist. He dismissed her when he saw them coming and Coulson met the second in command halfway, James receiving a simple nod in greeting.

 

“Ah, Agent James, so pleased you could join us.” Fury called to her like a teacher scolding a late student.

“Sorry sir, I was just making sure Captain Rogers was going to settle alright…” She trailed off, fingers picking nervously at the sleeve of her sweatshirt.

“An assignment I believe you were relieved of over a year ago.” He shot her a look and not for the first time James found herself wondering how even with one eye he still managed to make it feel like she had forty pairs staring at her. She pressed her lips together and looked toward the ground, the last time she'd been told off by him she had been 12 and had written a particularly nasty rhyme about one of the Agents handling her. She was generally speaking, one of his golden children; always got the job done with little to no complaints.

“I want you on the team James.” He said after a moment and her eyes shot back up to him as he folded his hands behind his back. He was looking over her shoulder and a quick glance around told her that Steve and Banner had made it onto the bridge. She turned back to the Director, a firm expression on her face as Steve approached them. 

“No. I won't do it.”

 

“Fury.” Steve shook the other man's extended hand as he cast a wondrous gaze around the bridge and Fury gave her one last meaningful look as he made his way to greet Doctor Banner. Steve held out a $10 dollar bill, nudging her with it when she failed to notice.

“I think this is yours…” He was still staring at the view the main deck afforded, but brought his stare to her when she plucked the note from him with a shy smile he gladly returned.

“What did Fury want?” He asked, his expression turning curious as he faced her fully, looking over to where Banner, Coulson and the Director where now talking. James sighed, ruffling her hair.

“To join the team.”

Steve’s brow furrowed and he cocked his head. He would have been interested in seeing her in action.

“And are you?”

“No. Not in a million years.” James scoffed, an unamused frown on her face. Steve was about to ask her more when she stepped away, walking towards where Nat squatted next to a screen.

“That's Agent Barton, where is he? What happened?” James didn't know Clint that well, in fact they'd only met once, but she’d been around long enough that his name and face came up often, and he was fairly close with Nat, whose opinion on people James valued above most others save Fury himself. The redhead exchanged a look with Coulson.

“He was compromised, Loki… brainwashed him.” Natasha finally, but hesitantly replied causing the brunette to blink rapidly a few times, unsure if she'd heard correctly but the conversation moved on, leaving Steve staring at a shocked James.

“It won't be enough to find him in time…” she continued, looking to Fury. Banner shook his head.

“You need to narrow your field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?”

“How many are there?” Fury replied and the hint of a smile on Banner’s face could be seen.

“Call every lab you know, have them put their spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma radiation. I’ll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition… At least we could rule out a few places.” Fury nodded, as did everyone who wasn't quite sure what he’d just said.

“Agent Romanov, show Doctor Banner to his laboratory please.” The Director gestured for the smaller man to follow the redhead as she lead the way. James stood then, watching as the pair left the room, reigning in the expression on her face when she noticed Steve looking rather concerned.

“You’re gonna love it Doc, we’ve got all the toys…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks all for reading! I was really excited to get this part out haha! I will try for more regular postings now, once a week at the least! If you have any questions regarding Josie/James please direct them toward my tumblr, Alderaan-is-aldergone. I'd be glad to answer any Q's ya'll got!
> 
> Once again, many thanks to Erin and their ears and my wonderful partner who still wants to kill me with commas <3 And to everyone who is reading this, subscribing or leaving kudos <3 Thank you xx


	5. The Avengers - 'The Prince of Poptarts'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor arrives, bringing chaos with him, and James wonders why on earth she hasn't gone into early retirement.

“Sir, we have a match!” Agent Sitwell announced suddenly, drawing everybody from their respective conversations. James gave Steve a sly smile as they moved to follower where Coulson was now, looking at the screen in front of the other agent. He had just been asking the super soldier to sign his trading cards, and it had taken all James had to keep her mouth shut.

“Location?!” Coulson demanded.

“Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Konigstrasse…” he trailed off as they all watched the screen zoom in, showing a street view of what seemed to be a museum of sorts.

“Captain, you're up.” Fury’s voice made both Steve and James turn toward him and the brunette couldn't help but hope the Director would send her too. She didn't want any part of being in the Avengers Initiative, none whatsoever, but a fellow agent was missing, brainwashed and she couldn't help but want to get him back.

“James, tell Romanov she’s going with him.”

“And me sir?” She asked hesitantly, moving closer to his podium. This wasn't exactly a conversation she really wanted to be having in front of the whole bridge, but right now she didn't really have that option.

“I thought you didn't  _ want _ in.” Fury looked down at her, an eyebrow raised, before he nodded towards the door.

“Well, get going!” He ordered, making Steve and James both jump into action. She thanked him quietly on the way out, directing the blonde to where he'd find his suit, and making off for her own things, paging Natasha on her earpiece as she went.

 

\---

 

Despite Nat having offered many times to put her in touch with someone who could personalise her uniform a bit, James had always declined. Other than it being tailored to fit her perfectly and being a little thicker than standard SHIELD issue, it was perfectly unremarkable. Or it had been, until recently.

Upon arriving at the quarters she would be keeping on board the Helicarrier, James found what looked from afar to be a normal SHIELD tactical suit, but on further inspection James discovered that it very much was not. The jersey knit had been replaced with a thicker, Nomex-Stretch fabric that had an insulated inner lining. The design was still SHIELD, the eagle insignias still on both shoulders giving the Agent some amount of relief. Unlike her previous suit however, it was a medium navy blue, with a few black seam detailings here and there which she wasn't all that pleased about. There seemed to also be a inner layer of some sort, and in her effort to put it on, James discovered it was another, thinner, insulating jumpsuit, one with a high turtle neck that could come up and cover over her nose…. Just like the old suit she’d worn three years ago when she'd first met Tony Stark. Narrowing her eyes, she grabbed what she thought had been a laundering tag from the hanger, unfolding it and reading over the messily handwritten note.

_ ‘Can't have you getting around looking like every other SHIELD employee, especially since we’ll be working together now. I have an image to maintain.’ - Tony _

James rolled her eyes. She had half a mind to take the suit off, but she hadn't any clue where her original one was. Probably back in her locker at the DC headquarters. Underneath Tony’s barely legible scrawl, was some much neater writing;

‘ _ We hope you like it!’ - Pepper & Tony _

 

The Brunette pursued her lips. It was a kind thought, but she really didn't want the attention of having a suit that stood out, nor did she want Stark thinking they would be working together. Sighing, she finished dressing herself and then filled out her holsters, the weapons cabinet already stocked with the guns she used most. She paused when she realised the outfit had a pair of half attached smartphone-friendly gloves. She bit her lip. That  _ was _ kinda cool of him to incorporate into the design...

“Josie are you ready to go?” Her earpiece pinged with the sound of Steve's voice and she frowned, lacing up her boots.

“Don't call me Josie…” She replied with a pout she knew he couldn't see. She could practically hear him roll his eyes however.

“You said I could, can't take it back now.” James would have growled if she wasn't so intent on getting through this mission quickly.

“Yes I'm ready, on my way to the main hangar now.” The door to her quarters slammed closed behind her and she hurriedly walked through the chrome corridors of the carrier, avoiding the gaze of any agent who walked by her, most of whom either ignored her entirely (thank god) or turned to look as she went past.

When she entered the hangar bay, she immediately spotted the lit up quinjet, climbing aboard as soon as she reached it, seeing Steve, Nat and their co-pilot already settled inside.

“Glad you could join us.” Steve said in a semi serious tone, and if she weren't totally caught off guard by how good he looked in his suit, she would've socked him in the arm. Natasha looked her up and down, arms crossed over her chest and eyebrow raised.

“Nice digs. Didn't know you were in the market for a new outfit.”

“I wasn't. And I'm not.” The eyebrow hiked higher if possible but she let it go, turning and climbing into the pilot's seat, exchanging a few words with the co-pilot as they prepared for takeoff. Steve nudged her with frown.

“Won't you get hot?” He asked, gesturing to the suits visibly thick material. James made an amused face.

“With luck.” She replied ignoring Steve's questioning expression and settled back as they took off, the quinjet moving quickly as they rushed to get to Stuttgart on time.

 

\---

 

Germany turned out to be a shit fest. The moment they arrived, Steve jumped from the jet, shielding an elderly man who was about to be on the receiving end of Loki’s wrath, and angering the horned man even more.

“Ah the soldier! The man out of time!” Loki announced, seething. Steve walked toward him, ready to protect any of the innocent people surrounding them now.

“I'm not the one who’s outta time…” the demi-God reacted sharply, sending a beam of energy from his sceptre toward the quinjet, Nat only narrowly managing to avoid it as she moved aside. Steve immediately engaged but was quickly thrown aside and James, seeing as Nat was busy, dropped down from the cargo exit pulling her gun as she went and firing a few shots Loki’s way. She knew it wouldn't do much (if any) damage but it would give Steve the time he needed to get back in the game. She just hadn't bet on Loki swinging his sceptre on her, hitting her with a blast of… something. It pushed her back, but she used the momentum to spring into a roll, suddenly feeling far more energised than she had before. Steve was on offence, throwing punches and kicks where he could, eventually coming to a pause beside her. James was squinting at her hands, they felt like they were about to explode... but in a good way.

Loki took this moment to strike, shooting another beam of energy, hitting Steve directly in his chest and knocking him down. The brunette made a split second decision, seeing the sceptre pointed her way and hurdled to the side, pulling back her arm and freezing her fist solid as she punched the demi-God squarely in the face, sending him flying back with the hardness and force that was her hand. She looked at her fist, semi pleased by the power-up the sceptre had apparently given her, turning to Steve when she heard him groan as he scrambled to his feet. It appeared the effects were not the same on him.

“You… You were born of the tesseract and of… science. You have no place here among these people!” Loki declared furiously and James finally holstered her gun, cracking the knuckles of her free hand.

“They will  _ never _ accept you…” His face held a devious grin as he prepared to fire more beams at them. Two things happened then;

number one was that the quinjet started playing AC/DC, causing everyone to look toward the sky in confusion.

And number two, both Iron Man and James attacked at the same time, Tony’s repulsor blast threw Loki backwards and left him reeling, while James’ lifted her hands, freezing the moisture all around his arms in a heavy yet effective set of frozen handcuffs.

“Your move Reindeer Games.” Tony landed cleanly, putting his weapons away when it became obvious Loki could do no harm. James looked toward Steve who was looking at her like she'd grown another head. She quickly moved away pretending she hadn't seen him and approached Iron Man.

“Ice Magic, good to see you. Nice suit, it looks good, may have to work out a different colour scheme though, you and Cap are clashing.” Steve pursed his lips, hauling Loki to his feet.

“Mr. Stark.”

“Captain.”

 

\---

 

“I don't like it.” Steve and Tony stood near the front of the quinjet, watching as James and Loki partook in the world's most intense glaring match.

“What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?” Steve had his mask off and was looking between the cockpit and his friend.

“I don't remember it being  _ that _ easy. And since when could Josie do that?” He turned to Tony, confused expression on his face. They did seem to know each other after all.

“Fairly certain she prefers James or Agent, Captain. And she's always been able to do that. Looks like she just didn't want to tell you.” Tony locked Steve’s gaze, challenging him, and when the blonde didn't react, he decided to poke a little bit more.

“You are pretty spry though, for an older fellow. You’re lucky Agent James jumped in with her Frostmourne thing.” The reference went right over Steve's head and he continued to stare, unsure why it was that  _ this _ Stark seemed to dislike him.

“What's your thing? Pilates?”

“What?”

“You, ah, might’ve missed a couple of things… doing time as a Capsicle.” Steve narrowed his eyes, becoming increasingly irked by Tony’s behaviour. He evened out his footing, placing both hands on his belt.

“Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in.” Tony made a face and looked toward James.

“Evidently there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you.” He set his eyes back on the taller blonde as lightning begun cracking around them. Steve had already moved on, watching the way Loki jumped slightly with every loud crack.

“What's wrong? Scared of a little lightening?” He called out, making the dark haired Asgardian cautiously look toward him.

“I'm not overly fond of what follows.” Tony and James shared equally panicked looks as a thud on top of the quinjet was heard, and felt. He quickly grabbed the Iron Man helmet, smoothly setting it on as the back doors opened up, and a tall, bulky blonde in a red cape walked right in like he'd been invited. James jumped up from where she'd been sitting opposite Loki, and was about to step in front of him when the Newcomer shoved his hammer like weapon into Tony’s chest, sending him flying backwards. He grabbed their prisoner, ripping the belts that held him in his seat and walked straight back out the back. James blinked, grabbing hold of the nearest steady thing, that just so happened to be Steve's arm. If anyone was going to blow away next, it was most likely her, thanks to her tiny frame.

“Another Asgardian?!” She asked, as if any of them knew what the hell just happened.

“Think he's a friendly?”

“It doesn't matter, if he kills Loki or frees him, the tesseract’s gone.” Tony began walking to the exit, thrusters powering up. Steve moved forward, panic evident in his voice.

“Stark wait! We need a plan of attack!”

“I have a plan; Attack. Agent James?” And just like that he was gone, flying through the air and out of sight in a matter of seconds, his final question leaving James torn. She didn't want to get involved, but really she was already here and at this point, she did seem to have a pretty neat advantage over Loki’s weapon of choice. She frowned, grabbing the nearest parachute and throwing it on, pulling the black neck cowl up over her mouth and nose. She gave one last glance to Steve and Nat before jumping out the back, plummeting toward the ground at a speed she really wasn't pleased with.

 

Steve watched in shocked horror as James, without a word dove out the back and he found himself being reminded of the fact that minus the end-of-the-world threat, this was her everyday. She was a spy and just because he'd only really seen her in a domestic capacity, did not mean she wasn't as dangerous and as deadly as any other spy he’d come across. And her… abilities seemed to help with that. Steve's only qualm with her having powers was that she'd never told him, he supposed he wasn't entitled to that, but he thought they were friends, it seemed like the type of thing one would share. Then he remembered the way SHIELD employees had treated her, kept her at arm’s length or had ignored her altogether. Was that why they treated her so differently? Why was he praised for his abilities and yet she was ridiculed for hers? He didn't have time to think on it properly as he found himself buckling his own parachute, Nat calling out to him as he got ready to jump.

“I’d sit this one out Cap!” She spoke as she adjusted flips and switches on the main console, trying to compensate for the turbulence they were now experiencing.

“I don't see how I can, Tony and James are already down there.”

“Honestly speaking I think they're far more qualified for this fight than you. These guys come from legends, they're basically gods!” She yelled and Steve gave her a look.

“There's only one god ma’am, and I'm fairly certain he doesn't dress like  _ that _ .” He grabbed his shield and with a final glance to the cockpit, he dove out the back, following the rest of his apparent team.

 

\---

 

James landed a little roughly, her parachute getting caught in the trees certainly didn't help, but she cut her way out easily enough, taking a tumble when she hit the ground. She groaned loudly, having landed on her right arm, and stood, listening out for what she could hear was a fight somewhere. The forest around her was pretty dense, and there was nothing lighting her way other than the moon, but she was fairly certain she could see a clearing up ahead.

“Josie?!” The sound of Steve’s voice caused her to whip around, her eyes adjusting to see his figure a little way off, having just stepped out of the brushes himself.

“Steve!” She walked towards him, hoping they could regroup with Tony and find the guy who'd taken Loki, but that plan went out the window when a loud crash and a small explosion went off in the clearing behind her. Without exchanging words, the pair rushed towards where they could clearly see Iron Man and the blonde Asgardian fighting, Steve jumping up on a fallen tree log.

The two had split apart and were about to go at it again when Steve threw his shield with a clank. It bounced off of the Asgardian and hit Tony’s chest, propelling it back to the super soldiers hand in one fluid motion. James found herself mesmerised by how well he managed to control the giant metal frisbee.

“That's enough!” He ordered, jumping from the tree stump and landing in front of the other men, James moved closer, close enough that the bulky blonde stranger turned to look at her, but no further. She wasn't interested in any kind of a fist fight with these guys.

“Now I don't know what you plan on doing here-” Steve was cut off, the other man obviously furious with the interruption to his business.

“I have come here to put an end to Loki’s schemes!” He announced and James found herself wholly unsurprised by his voice. It was rough and ragged, much like the man himself.

“Then prove it,” Steve shot back without missing a beat.

“Put that hammer down…”

“Uh, yeah, no. Bad call. He loves his hammer!” Tony called to the Captain just as the Asgardian thwacked him backwards. James circled the clearing, away from Steve as the other blonde moved in on him, swinging the hammer around by its strap.

“You want me to put the hammer down?!” He yelled, Steve narrowed his eyes, unsure of what was happening until it happened. The other man ran at him, leaping into the air midway hammer raised and Steve brought up his shield just in time, the weapons colliding with a massive force that ricocheted around the clearing, blowing some of the weaker trees over.

James went flying, the sheer force of the impact sending her meters away, and she landed with a hard thump on the dirty ground. She pushed herself into a standing position, her arm definitely dislocated, and she made her way to where the others were picking themselves up. Steve looked at her holding her injured limb with a concerned expression, as did the Asgardian, and she approached the group, her own expression fuming. How dare they be so irresponsible and thoughtless. At least they had the decency to look ashamed.

“Are you done with your pissing match?!” She commanded, feeling very much like a scolding mother as she received several quiet affirmations. James placed a finger to her ear, hoping to god that the radio still worked. It came to life with a soft buzz. She sent one last glare toward the men before phoning in.

  
“Nat, lock in on my location. We’re done here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm terrible, I physically can't keep away! Every time i update the story i start working on the next chapter immediately! i think after The Avengers it will turn to more regular posting.
> 
> Once again a thank you to my partner, Erin and Amy. ya'all are the best <3  
> and thank you to everybody whose been reading and leaving kudos <3 until next time!


	6. The Avengers - 'In the Service of Liars and Killers'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James feels Fury isn't telling her everything. Luckily, she isn't the only person that feels this way.

As it happened, the big bulky blonde in the red cape was Thor, Norse God of Thunder and Lightning. And as it happened, James liked him very much. When he wasn't pounding the shit of her colleagues, he was a very kind and gentle soul, and was very, almost annoyingly attentive to her once they all got back on the quinjet, helping her up the ramp and everything. She wasn't used to the positive attention from so many people in one day, and she felt she needed a long nap.

“Lady James, May I?” Thor gestured to her dislocated shoulder, making both Steve and Tony, who had been sitting in silence, look up. James raised her eyebrows but ultimately, waved him off.

“Oh it's alright, I was just going to get someone at SHI- Ah!” She trailed off in surprise when he placed his hands on her anyway, told her to take a deep breath, and snapped the bones back into place.

“Mother fucker!” She yelled, free hand cradling the now even more sore limb as Nat turned to see what had happened, shaking her head before turning back to the main console. It did actually feel better, not having it locked up, but Jesus did it hurt. Thor patted her on the (uninjured) shoulder with an amicable laugh.

“My apologies, friend!” James smiled awkwardly, still in mild pain, as he sat next to her and thanked him. He continued to stare at her with a smile until she shifted, obviously uncomfortable.

“You are the one gifted with powers over ice, are you not?” He questioned, leaning forward slightly and James made a slightly confused face, eying him up and down.

“Uh… Yeah… How do you-”

“Heimdall, he see’s all.” He said as if that explained who or what Heimdall was. James nodded, still confused.

“Oh… Yeah okay. Makes sense…” She looked toward Steve as Thor’s gaze turned elsewhere, and mouthed out ‘who the hell is Heimdall’ but the super soldier only shrugged.

“Although, he did not mention how it is you came to be gifted. Are you part frost giant?” The question drew a snicker from Tony who looked her up and down, gesturing to the fact her belt was buckled in two buckles away.

“Does she look  _ anything _ like a giant to you?” James stuck her tongue out him in a very adult manner and he made a face back.

“You might considering asking Tony if he’s the giant.” She retorted, and Tony threw his hands up.

“I’m short too.”

“My bad, looks like your ego was throwing me off.” The billionaire paused, making a face that clearly read ‘fair enough’.

“Touche.”

Thor laughed at the banter, slapping his knee.

“I think I will enjoy this trip far more than i thought!”

“Well I’m glad someone’s enjoying themselves.” James replied, settling back in her seat.

 

\---

 

The moment they landed on the helicarrier, Loki was escorted by an armed guard to where he would be held; a large circular reinforced glass cell that was elevated above a removal vent that could be opened and closed at Fury’s will.

“It’s an impressive cage… Not built, I think, for me…” 

“Built for something a lot stronger than you.” Fury shot back, already growing tired of the conversation.

“Oh, I’ve heard. A mindless beast, who makes play he’s still a man.” At the conference table on the main bridge, Natasha looked toward Banner, who seemed only mildly perturbed if anything at Loki’s taunts.

“How desperate are you, that you would call upon such lost creatures to defend you?” Their dark haired captive paced around his cell, looking for all the world like he was the one in charge.

“How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can’t hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill cause it’s fun…” Fury walked closer to the man in the cell his deep voice cutting out his words like a threat.

“You have made me  _ very _ desperate. You might not be glad that you did.” Loki made a face, breathing a soft ‘oh’ as if he felt truly accountable for the things Fury listed.

“It  _ burns _ you to have come so close… To have the tesseract, to have  _ power _ … Unlimited power…” he turned toward the security camera that’s feed was being delivered to the team in the bridge.

“And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share?” James’ brow furrowed and she looked down at her hands, unsure as to why that question began to eat at her. Something wasn’t right, the way he said it had her rethinking it over and over again.

“And to be reminded what  _ real  _ power is.” Fury smirked, turning to walk away.

“Well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something.”

 

Steve shut his screen off, looking up to the rest of the group. Banner was the first to talk, folding his arms in a subtly defensive manner.

“He really grows on you doesn’t he?” He asked, making James smirk, drawing her from her thoughts.

“Tell me about it…” The two shared a smile, sobering when Steve spoke.

“Loki’s going to drag this out, so Thor, what’s his play?” The demi-god in question was stood a little ways off, hand resting on his chin as he listened to the conversation.

“He has an army called the Chitauri. They are not of Asgard, nor of any world known.” He turned and addressed the group as a whole, the information hitting them like a sack of potatoes. A threat from a small group led by Loki was one thing, an entire army led him him was another.

“He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth, in return i suspect, for the tesseract.”

“An army? From outer space?” The disbelief in Steve’s words made James’ shoot him a look.

“So a girl who can shoot ice out of her hands and a literal god is fine, but aliens is where you draw the line?” She was mostly joking, the humorous tone in her voice making the blonde purse his lips as he realised she was right. He’d seen crazier. Banner piped up then, pointing out what the others had failed to notice.

“So he’s building another portal? That’s what he needs Erik Selvig for…” Bruce took his glasses off, gesturing with them. Thor frowned.

“Selvig?”

“He’s an astrophysicist.”

“He’s a friend…” Bruce cocked his head, not having realised they knew each other. Nat spoke then, arms folded on the table in front of her and voice even as to not betray any emotion.

“He  Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of our own.” She trailed off a little, sitting back in her chair and looking entirely uncomfortable.

“I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He’s not leading an army from here.” Steve reiterated his concerns from the quinjet, looking around the room.

“I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki, the guy’s brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him.” Banner brushed off the captains concerns as Thor stepped forward.

“Have care how you speak, Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother.” From beside Steve, James narrowed her eyes in a confused manner, her face contorting into an awkward smile when Thor’s eyes landed on her.

“He killed eighty people in two days.” Natasha fixed the bulky man with a stare that could strike fear into the hearts of any normal man.

“... He’s adopted…?” Thor supplied making James stifle laughter and Steve elbowed her in the side.

“I think it’s about the mechanics.” Bruce tapped his glasses against his other hand.

“The iridium, what do they need the iridium for?” he was partially cut off when Tony came waltzing into the room with Coulson and James rolled her eyes when he shot her a wink.

“It’s a stabilizing agent!” The shorter man turned to the agent as they properly entered, whispering quietly about ‘flying him to portland’ and ‘let love stay alive’. The brunette sunk further in her chair, still unhappy at him for the conversation he’d cornered her to have after they’d gotten off the quinjet.

~

_ “Stop with the googly eyes okay? If you want I can set you up with a nice dinner, a great hotel... all on the house by the way.” Tony said conspiratorially as James escorted him to the bay where he could put his suit when he wasn’t wearing it. She looked at him with an unreadable expression. _

_ “What?” _

_ “You and the Captain… I saw the looks you two gave each other all night, especially after Thor fixed your arm… The jealously was real Ice Magic.” he continued as the brunette looked at him in horror. _

_ “No... no, no, no! Steve and I are friends, nothing more… Really!” It was Tony’s turn to give her a look and he shrugged. _

_ “Can’t say I’m not glad to hear it. The guy’s like three times your age, almost exactly.” _

_ “Tony…” _

_ “That’d be like me dating you.” _

_ “I’m fairly certain you did try that…” _

_ “I’d be a cradle snatcher.” _

_ “Tony...” _

_ “I get it, I get it… You like the old classics.” _

_ “Tony!!” _

~

“It means the portal won’t collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD.” He walked right up to Fury’s podium, smacking Thor on the arm as he went, saying something about a mean swing and it brought James from her day dreaming. Thor glared at him as he walked past and Maria hill, who had been standing to the side the whole time, seemed to have the same reaction to the billionaire that James did. There was a lot of eye rolling in the room.

“Also means that the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants…” He now stood at Fury’s console looking around and pointing out to a random agent.

“That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn’t notice. But we did.” James raised her eyebrows as Steve turned to look, thoroughly confused by what was happening. Tony continued his little performance, lacing a hand over his eye and James sighed loudly.

“How does Fury even see these?!” He questioned, turning to Maria who bit her tongue and answered politely.

“He turns.”

“Sounds exhausting.” He started tapping things on the screen while explaining that the rest of the materials needed were easy enough to find and that all they would be missing was a power source, a very  _ powerful _ power source.

“Something of a high energy density… To kickstart the cube.” He clapped his hands together as he turned back to the group, moving closer.

“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” Maria enquired, sounding a little bit like a younger sibling dismayed with her older brother.

“Last night.” Tony replied just as childishly and they made faces at each other.

“The packet? Selvig’s notes on the extraction theory papers? Am I the only one who did the reading?!” He asked with feigned shock. Steve shook his head.

“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Banner had started pacing, biting his lip as he thought about what Tony had been saying.

“He’d have to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million kelvin just to break through the barrier…”

“Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunnel effect.” Tony shot one last ;i told you so’ look to Hill before walking toward Banner.

“If he could do that then he could achieve heavy ion-fusion at any reactor on the planet.”

“Finally! Someone who speaks english!” Tony announced, grabbing Bruce’s hand and shaking it. James turned to look between the two, her eyes still narrowed in confusion

“I refuse to believe that was English…” She responded, receiving a raised eyebrow and a smirk form the billionaire. Steve continued to look around confused, wondering if he was the only one who didn't quite get what had just transpired.

“Its uh, good to meet you Doctor Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled.” He took his hand back and the two geniuses shared a look.

“Oh, and I’m a huge fan of how you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster- Ow!” James smacked him on the leg as hard as she could recieving a small smile from Banner as she did so.

“Uh… Thanks…” He replied graciously, obviously unsure of what Tony’s game was. Tony however was too busy arguing under his breath with James who was telling him off.

“Don’t do that!”

“Do what?”

“You know what! It’s rude!”

“I was complimenting him!”

Fury entered then, bringing everyone’s attention to him as he did so.

“Doctor Banner is  _ only _ here to find the Tesseract. I was hoping you might join him…” Banner and Tony shared another look, Tony’s was somewhat of an apology prompted by James telling him off.

“I’d start with that stick of his. It might be magical but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon.” Steve looked back at Natasha who nodded.

“I don’t know about that, but it  _ is _ powered by the cube.” James frowned.

“So were Hydra weapons…?” She asked, looking up just in time to catch the look Fury and Hill gave each other, only deepening her frown.

“Well I’d like to know how it is he turned two of the sharpest men i know into his personal flying monkeys.” It was Thor’s turn to be confused and he turned to Fury, brow furrowed.

“Monkeys? I do not unders-”

“I do!” Steve had cut Thor off, pointing toward Fury with a small but proud grin on his face.

“I… I understood that reference…” He trailed off, and James closed her eyes, restraining a full forced smile as she accepted the reality of what had just happened. She was embarrassed on Steve’s behalf but thought it was still kind of cute. Tony rolled his eyes and Bruce just smiled. Steve looked around the room, eyes landing on James who gave him a pitying look.

“Shall we play Doctor?” Tony asked and Bruce motioned toward the door.

“This way Stark…”

 

“It’s the Wizard of Oz… The flying monkeys…” Steve continued quietly and James patted his hand,

“I know Steve. I know…”

 

\---

 

“Director, may I have a word?” James walked up to Fury’s podium once everyone had left the bridge, not wanting to have an audience for this one. Fury turned halfway, eying her before nodding.

“You may. What do you need?” The brunette took a breath, folding her hands behind her back and looking to where Maria stood some way away, thankfully out of earshot.

“What was that all about?”

“What was  _ what _ all about, Agent?” he replied, facing her fully now, a dead expression on his face, but she wasn’t backing down.

“First of all, you tell me that SHIELD didn’t have the Tesseract any longer, and then it gets stolen and I find out we’re ‘using it to create clean energy’. Don’t you think that’s something that me of all people ought to have the right to know?” She barely contained the anger behind her words, but she did want to let him have a piece of her mind. Fury looked off, before returning to her heated gaze.

“Perhaps you did, but I didn’t see any point in letting you know, it would have only distracted you and made your already strained working relationship with SHIELD even harder.”

“My working relationship with SHIELD is just fine, Director. It’s it’s employees that have had it out for me,  _ because _ of the Tesseract since day one. That  _ cube _ shouldn’t be anywhere near government hands and we both know it. It was used to make weapons once, powerful weapons. What’s stopping us from doing that again?!” James really didn’t care that she was so far out of line that the line wasn’t even visible anymore. Fury owed her some answers and he seemed to relent, his expression softening somewhat but James could see right through it. She was, despite anyone else’s opinion, a  _ master _ spy.

“ _ No one _ is making weapons. Clean Energy is the only thing we’re interested in.” He placed a hand on her shoulder in a reassuring manner and the brunette looked away, shaking her head. She knew he wasn’t telling the truth. Weapons or no there was something he wasn’t telling her. And now she knew she had to find out by other methods.

“Promise me.”

“I swear Josephine.”

James left the bridge, having convinced Fury that her guard had been lowered. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the fact she still looked about 17 or the fact she never questioned orders, but despite her intense and exhaustive training, she found herself constantly being underestimated by the people around her. But she’d had enough. Fury’s lie to her about only using the cube for energy was bullshit and if she had to go around him to find out what was going on, then she would. She hated to admit it, but if anyone knew what to do about this all, it would be Tony.

 

“What isn’t he telling us? I can’t do the equation if I don’t have all the variables.” James was approaching the lab, about to enter, but stopped upon hearing the conversation turn to the man she’d just questioned. She paused, putting her back against the wall panel nearest to the door and listened in.

“You think Fury’s hiding something?” Steve’s voice. She was glad they seemed to have come to the same conclusion.

“He’s a spy, Captain, He’s  _ the _ spy. His secrets have secrets. Just ask James.” The Agent’s heart began to pound a little at the mention of her name. Why did he seem to think Fury would tell her anything about something he deemed unnecessary for her to know. She’d already asked outright and he’d denied anything.

“And it’s bothering him too…” James couldn’t see who Tony referred too but was answered when she heard Bruce’s voice.

“A warm light for all mankind… Loki’s jab to Fury about the cube. Well… I think that was meant for you…” James had thought it odd too and was more than happy to listen in to what the others had to say. She was now more than ever convinced they were hiding something that she  _ did _ need to know.

“...I’m kind of the only name in clean energy right now. Is what he’s getting at.” She tuned back into the conversation as Bruce spoke again.

“So why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?” 

“Speaking of which, I should probably look into that once my decryption program is finished breaking into all of SHIELD’s files.”

“I’m sorry, did you sa-”

“JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours I will know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever had to hide.” James could  _ hear _ the tension in the room rise as Steve and Tony butt heads. Again.

“And yet you’re confused about why they didn’t want you around…” Steve replied and James made a face. He  _ was _ right.

“An intelligence organisation that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome.” Tony shot back.

“I think Loki means to rile us up. This is a man who means to start a war and if we don’t stay focused he’s going to succeed. We have orders. We should follow them.” Steve tried to bring them back on track and James shook her head. If there was one thing Tony Stark did not ever do, it was follow orders. She was kind of counting on that now.

“Following’s not really my style.”

“And you’re all about style aren’t you?” She groaned as the jabs turned personal. Steve would likely never win, if she knew one thing about Tony, is that he never backed down from a challenge, even if he hurt the other person in the process.

“I’m sorry, but of the people in this room, which one is A. Wearing a spangly outfit and B. Not of use?” Bruce spoke up again then, bringing the attention to himself.

“Steve… Tell me none of this doesn’t smell a little funky to you…?” Steve didn't answer, but she could hear footsteps moving toward the door. She moved, counting her steps as she sped walked down the opposite hall, spinning on her heel and walking back the way she came just as the door to the lab opened and Steve exited. He’d never even known she had been right there.

“Steve I was looking for you.” She told him, approaching where he stood, a deep frown on his face.

“Josie I don’t have time…” He said exasperatedly and James looked genuinely shocked, he’d never blown her off like this, not since the first month of her meeting him.

“Uh.. Alright, But I just wanted to talk to you about something… About Fury…” If she was going to help get to the bottom of this, and not let him known she’d been eavesdropping, she had to play it smart. And it wasn’t like she didn’t already have her suspicions. If Fury was hiding something important, the team deserved to know, especially if it was going to impact them. Her answer caught Steve’s attention and he moved closer, gesturing that they move.

“We should talk somewhere else…” She directed him down the hall in silence, stopping at a door that she punched her security code into and ushered him inside. It was another lab of some sort, smaller and more importantly, empty. Steve fixed her with a scrutinizing expression.

“I think Fury’s hiding something.” She said simply, folding her hands behind her back. Steve continued to look at her, his face turning from curiosity to concern. He’d only ever heard her speak well of Fury, he wasn’t sure how close they were, but he knew they’d known each other for a long time and if she was having doubts about his motives then he knew it was serious. Not that his conversation with Tony and Bruce hadn’t already convinced him of that.

“I just spoke to him, I had my own questions about certain… Things, and when I asked him he denied it, any of it and to be honest I-” She stopped speaking, taking a breath and fidgeting with her hands as she walked nervously around the room.

“I don’t know if I can trust him, or Maria… or Nat.” Truthfully James was very confused and very concerned, but her trust was not easily earned and she’d never had it put into question before, not from Fury at least. He was always the one thing she could count on. Steve stepped forward. He looked at her carefully, knowing that her admittance of hesitation was a bigger deal for her than it would be for most.

“If it makes you feel better, I have my own doubts…” She smiled evenly, thankfully.

“It does, actually. I want to know what it is, I  _ need _ to know. I’ve lived most of my life in the dark, doing whatever I’ve been told no questions asked, but now I… I’m not sure.” Steve nodded in understanding. He’d never known what it was like to have everything you know ripped out from under your feet, but he could imagine it didn't feel that great.

“I need to know Steve,” James moved forward, staring at him with impossible intensity, the almost desperation in her eyes hypnotising him.

“Can I trust you?” the question left him reeling slightly and he nodded deciding then and there that no matter what, from now on she would have his allegiance. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Yes.”

“Then I think I know where to start.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy!! So a big part of Josie's character is based in trust, which we now see has been broken and she's starting to lean on the team more. I don't know why I'm telling you this, it's all there... i guess I'm just excited to begin furthering her character development!!!
> 
> Also, theres a lot of dialogue this chapter, so i apologies if the text seems really disjointed.... i haven't properly figured out how to not have massive spaces when i start a new line on the AO3 uploading page.......
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has been reading, leaving comments and/or kudos! You are the best <3


	7. The Avengers - 'Free With a Pack of Two'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony, Bruce, Steve and James confront Fury about his tesseract-made weapons, but it doesn't quite go as planned. As if anything ever could.

“Just push it!”

“I  _ am _ pushing it!”

“Try harder! Don't you have the strength of like, ten men?”

“Josie!”

Steve was struggling with one of the cargo hold doors and without handles, it made it increasingly hard to break into SHIELD’s things. Especially when James’ security key would only get them so far. Finally the door’s lock broke, and the blonde pushed it open, watching as James quickly tapped in her code to the wall panel, stopping the silent alarm the moment it was triggered. Hopefully the security team would brush it off as someone forgetting protocol. Steve gestured for her to go first, and the pair entered the large storage room, looking around at the metal crates packed almost to the roof on multiple levels.

“I’d say our best bet is to find the weapons holding… If SHIELD’s being doing anything unauthorised… or at least hiding something, I think it's safe to start there.” Steve simply nodded, looking around to see if there was any obvious sign of organisation.

“Looks like it might be up here…” he pointed to the second floor, where it looked like the crates had tougher locks and James agreed, walking towards where she could see the ladder, stopping when she heard a clanging and looked to see Steve had jumped up and over the second level’s railings. He gave her a look when she shook her head.

“Show off…” she muttered under her breath.

As they walked the upper floors, Steve occasionally breaking into crates James pointed out to him, the blonde finally got a moment to ask his friend the many questions that were bouncing around his head since Germany.

“Were you born with your powers or-”

“No! No I… I wasn't.” She cut him off, sending a sad smile his way.

“What happened?” He asked after a moment cause James to stop for a moment, leaning on the railing behind her.

“Question of the century…” she sighed. In reality she’d never actually told anyone her past herself, everyone who knew she could count on one hand, and even then they'd either been there or had read her unedited file.

“I don't know exactly where I came from or what, but I know that my earliest memories are of a cell. SHIELD in the 80’s employed the service of many offshoot groups and scientific individuals so they might be held less accountable for their actions or whatever… One such scientist wanted to play around with genetics.” Steve’s face was cold, this time not so much at her as at the story she was telling him and he stepped closer, folding his arms across his chest. She knew this next part wouldn't please him either.

“He wanted to create the Super Soldier Serum, and he tried his damnedest… Effectively for me it was drawn out torture and until I was about 10 that's all I'd ever seen of humanity. Needles and surgical masks and pain.” Her voice shook slightly and she forced herself to keep the tears forming in her eyes at bay. Steve just listened quietly, his expression becoming more and more concerned.

“And then SHIELD found out. Or something. I don't know. But Nick Fury’s face was the first one I saw outside of the laboratory staff, and it was the first face that hadn't looked at me like I was nothing. And he brought me back to the main headquarters, I don't think I let him put me down or let go of my hand the whole time. He had two eyes back then.” She laughed, remembering his face and how young he’d looked, how kind he'd been. She looked Steve in the eye, watching as he gave her a kind smile, but she could see the pity in it.

“And I’ve been in the custody of SHIELD ever since. Or until I was 18 at least. I started training long before that though, I had to to learn how to control my power. I always said I wanted to be just like Fury when I grew up, but now…” She scoffed, shaking her head.

“I don't even know who he is. Probably never did.” She wiped at the tears that had betrayed her.

“God I sound like the biggest spy cliche!” She laughed and Steve lowered his head, a thin smile on his face.

“Tragic past comes free with a pack of two!” James continued, pushing herself off the railing with a sigh continuing to walk a little.

“Fury gave me the name Josephine. When I was older I picked James as a last name but I… I guess I didn't want people too close…” she trailed off slightly, running a hand through her hair. Steve coughed.

“I can call you James again, if you would pref-”

“No, don't. I like it when you use my name…” She realised how lame that sounded when she said it aloud, but the blonde didn't seem to notice, smiling at her with a nod. James found herself slightly captivated by his grin, and when she felt she'd been staring too long, coughed awkwardly, pointing to a crate in front of them.

“Mhmn, why don't we try this one?” Steve looked at the silver case and nodded, pulling it from its shelf and placing it on the ground, easily ripping it open.

Neither of them were pleased with what they found.

 

\---

 

“What  _ is _ Phase Two Director?”

“Phase Two is SHIELD uses the cube to make  _ weapons _ .” Steve practically threw the modified gun on the lab table, James standing behind him, arms crossed and a furious look on her face.

“Sorry, the computer was moving a bit slow for us.” He eyed Tony, folding his arms. Fury looked between James and Steve, moving toward them as he began speaking.

“Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract, this does not mean we have bee-”

“I’m sorry, what were you lying?” Tony cut him off, bringing up SHIELD designed plans for some kind of Tesseract powered nuclear weapon.

“You lied to me Nick.” The anger and disappointment in James’ voice caused Fury to almost double take, and he found himself unable to meet her glaring gaze as Thor and Nat entered the room.

“Did you know about this?” Banner questioned, staring down Nat who seemed completely un-put off.

“You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment Doctor?” She asked, a small, condescending jab that made Bruce laugh mirthlessly.

“Oh I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed…”

“Loki is manipulating you.”

“And you've been doing what exactly?” Nat at least looked slightly offended at that one, taking a step forward.

“You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you-”

“Yes and I'm not leaving cause suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction!” He grabbed the screen and pointed at it, looking toward Fury for answers.

“Because of him.” The Director pointed toward Thor, and for the first time all day, sounded as if he was telling the truth. Although James didn't doubt that whatever came out of his mouth next was going to be some great uniting speech intended to convince them all that the weapons were needed, were necessary. Thor seemed thoroughly confused looking to the others for answers which they didn't have.

“Last year we had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that  _ levelled  _ a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but that we are hopelessly,  _ hilariously _ outgunned.” James rolled her eyes, scoffing under her breath. Thor took a step forward, a hand held out.   
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." He said matter of factly, ignoring the issue of Loki.   
"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And you're not the only threat!" Thor didn't have a reply but he lowered his hand as Fury turned to address the group.   
"The world is filling up with people who can't be matched. Who can't be controlled." His eyes landed briefly on James whose glare deepened upon the attention and she made a noise of dissatisfaction causing Steve to look at her and she caught his eye, shaking her head in disbelief. For a master spy, Fury could be incredibly predictable. She told him this would happen.   
"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve jabbed, referencing both their current predicament and the lax security that had allowed a scientist to experiment on a little girl. Fury was about to speak, but was cut off by Thor.   
"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war!"   
"You forced our hand! We had to come up wit-"   
"A nuclear deterrent. Cause that always calms everything right down." Tony shoved his hands in his pockets, acting far more at ease than James knew he was.   
"Remind me how you made your fortune again, Stark?"   
"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep in this."   
"Wait wait, hold on-" Tony began, aided by James who placed a hand on Steve's arm with a frown.   
"Tony hasn't done anythin-"    
"How is this now all about me?" The shorter man question, seemingly genuinely offended.   
"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" The blonde stepped up, and left his companion behind him, having shook off her hand. James stood slightly back, thoroughly confused.   
"What the hell?!" She said to herself watching as the tensions in the room seemed to rise unbelievably quickly and they descended into chaos, everybody arguing with one another about anything as the brunette stood slightly on the outskirts of the group, hoping no one would take aim at her, but they all seemed far too busy throwing verbal harassment at each other.   
"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked placing a hand on Steve's shoulder who quickly slapped it away.   
"You know damn well why, back off!" He said sternly at the shorter man and James stepped forward a little, trying to place her own hand on his shoulder again but he had moved, circling around Tony as they argued.   
"I'm starting to want you to make me..."   
"Oh yeah? Big man in a suit of armour take that off and what are you?" Tony caught eyes with James as he turned to face the Blonde.   
"Steve, stop!"   
"Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist." Tony remarked, only serving to piss Steve off more. His voice lowered dangerously.   
"I've known guys with none of that, worth ten of you. I've seen the footage, the only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you..." James stepped forwards more. Something was all wrong about this, she'd never heard Steve or Tony this angry over anything.   
"I think I'd just cut the wire." Despite the evenness, the brunette could hear how much the other man's words had upset him.   
"Tony... Please..." She pled entirely ignored as the pair continued to fight. James put a hand out, on Tony's arm, a gesture he threw off, looking between her and Steve.   
"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!"   
"Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds." James stepped back, this time, running a hand through her hair and looking toward Fury who was only watching silently. The air felt heavy and there was a buzz in the room, a rising tension that you could cut with a knife and the worst part was that it was dawning on the Agent that this was exactly what Loki wanted. Thor joined the argument again, antagonising them further and Fury turned to Banner.   
"Agent Romanov could you please escort Doctor Banner to hi-"   
"To my what? You already rented my room!" Bruce rebutted, gesturing to the screen that showed Loki's security feed. Fury put a hand out in a calming movement.   
"The cell was just in cas-"   
"In case you needed to kill me! Well you can't! I already tried!" Banners admission made the room fall silent, Tony's expression held a deep sadness and he blinked a few times.   
"I got low. I didn't see an end so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spat it back out. So I moved on, I focused on helping other people, I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret Agent Romanov, you wanna know how I stay calm?" Everybody's eyes were trained on Banner's hands then, Fury moving for his gun as James slowly felt her skin covering with a hard layer of ice. Even Steve moved defensively, stepping in front of both herself and Tony as he addressed the doctor.   
"Doctor Banner... Put down the sceptre..."    
Bruce looked down at his hands, Loki's weapon grasped tightly in them. He practically threw it down when the computer started beeping, having located the tesseract. Everybody turned, looking as the Doctor approached mumbling about his party trick. Nat followed closely.   
"I can get there fastest." Tony said, beginning to move toward the door and Steve grabbed him roughly by the arm.   
"You're not going alone!" The shorter man slapped his hand away.   
"You gonna stop me?" He challenged, and Steve stepped forward, way into his personal space.   
"Put on the suit, let's find out."   
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."   
"Put on the suit." Steve ground out. James was just about to interfere again, moving towards them when an explosion went off and the room burst into flame, the floor in the centre giving out. Steve and Tony were thrown to the side, knocked against the counters by the pressure as the floor beneath Bruce, Nat and James caved in. Letting out a scream as she felt herself fall, the agent prepared for a hard impact with the ground, gasping loudly when it didn't come and instead felt a tight grip on her arm, looking up to see Thor. The demi-god easily pulled her back over the edge, keeping his tight grip and shielding her as another minor explosion went off nearby, blowing glass and metal fragments, a few of which she felt the sting of as they cut her face.   
“Josie!” Steve had called out and she looked to where Tony and her friend where getting up, both slightly dazed as they looked around the destroyed room. She was about to speak when Fury yelled to them about the third engine being down. She could see Tony’s mind beginning to spin as Thor helped her to her feet.

“Put on the suit Tony…”

“Yep.” The pair raced out of the lab and Fury turned to her, finger still pressed to his ear.

"Find Coulson, lock down the detention centre." He told her as he left for the bridge, paging Nat as he went. James turned to Thor who looked down at her with concern.   
"I will come with you to secure Loki. I have no doubt this is his doing." He told her and James nodded, hoping he was going to say that.

"Appreciated. Let's move." She jumped over the corner of the large hole in the middle, running out with the bulky blonde hot on her tail, weaving in and out of the hallways avoiding colliding with other panicked Agents as they made their way down to the holding cell. Until a roar was heard. James stopped dead in her tracks, a cold shiver running down her spine and she made eye contact with Thor who looked just as horrified. She knew that Thor was possibly the only one who could stand a chance against the Hulk and gestured away from her.   
"Go! I'll get to Loki and lock it down, meet me there when you're done!" Thor nodded at her, taking off down the opposite hall as the Agent begun her own sprint, punching in her security code at the doors to the centre and racing inside, immediately greeted by resistance.   
She easily disabled the henchmen closest to her, dodging the second's attempt to hit her with his gun and froze his hands to it completely making him unable to move as she grabbed his head and slammed it into the wall. Jogging down the industrial stairs, James vaulted over the side, landing on top of another infiltrator who was standing at the control point for the room. She broke his neck as they fell, spotting Loki's opened cell door and shot a blast of ice toward him as he attempted to exit. It missed by only an inch and the brunette growled when the demi-god noticed her, pouncing toward him immediately. They were pushed by the force back inside the glass cylinder and James began throwing punches, taken quite by surprise when he parried her every blow. She hadn't expected him to be skilled in combat but she adapted, meeting his much stronger hits with ice hardened fists and forearms.   
"You should have waited for my brother!" He laughed, catching her off guard and throwing her across the room.   
"You won't be able to stop me. But I have a plan for  _ him _ . For you both." Loki grabbed her by the throat as she attempted to get up and lifted her, pinning her against the wall as she began to choke, her hands coming to pull at his arm when he smacked her repeatedly into the glass wall, letting her fall when she started losing consciousness. He looked down at where she lay half awake, blood forming on her knuckles from the impact of ice crushing against skin.   
"Pathetic." He walked out of the cell, greeting more of his brainwashed men and barking orders and James vaguely thought she saw two of him, one in the cell with her and one outside of it. She groaned, trying to push herself from the ground, but her arms weren't working like they were supposed to and she gasped, feeling the intense pain in her head. The next thing she knew, Thor was somewhere over her, yelling at Loki and helping her up as his brother trapped them both inside, a wide grin on his face. He took a few steps back, toward the control panel.

“The humans think us immortal… Shall we test that?” James watched dizzily, eyes moving to the corner of the room where she saw Coulson had just entered, knocking out the last remaining guard.

“Step away please!” He called out, making Loki pause in his movements to eye the massive, almost comical gun the other man held. Coulson nodded to it.

“You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the destroyer. Even I don't know what it does.” He powered it up with the flick of a switch and James’ eyes widened, watching in horror as yet  _ another _ Loki appeared, stabbing him through the back of his chest with the sceptre. Thor screamed out, banging his fists against the glass in a fit of rage and the smaller woman could only look on with a horrified expression, tears already beginning to fall as she slowly stood, leaning on the wall, eyes focused only on Coulson who was staring straight back at her.

“No… No! C’mon on Phil get up! Get up!” She cried mostly to herself, sliding down the glass when he legs couldn't support her own weight, hand flat against it. He mouthed something to her that she couldn't make out through her already fading eyesight and the fact that tears were blurring her vision.

“Please…” Loki turned toward the console, pulling up the safety switch and flicking it, opening the discardment hatch below them, his hair flying wildly around his face. Thor was going to call out to his brother but upon seeing the determination in his eyes, the intent behind them, he moved forwards, scooping James up in a heap as he waited for the inevitable. The brunette looked up at his face, not knowing what else to do. She was about to be dropped from over 36,000 feet to her death and she’d just had to watch one of the best agents she'd ever known die. Thor looked down at her with a dismayed expression.

“Thor wha-”

“Just hold tight Lady James…”

And then Loki tripped the button, the glass container falling like a rock. “

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Theres some weird formatting issues i just couldn't figure out in this chapter so i apologise for that!! Will hopefully find out and go back and change it!
> 
> Thanks to, as always, my partner, Erin and the wonderful Amy :)
> 
> and of course to everyone who has read this far :) Ya'll are the best <3


	8. The Avengers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki takes the fight to New York while the Avengers get ready to Assemble

“Agent Coulson is down.”

“A medical team is on it’s way to your location.”

“They’re here. They called it.”

The news hit everyone like a slap in the face, anyone who could hear the radio stopping whatever they were doing, pausing in a moment of shocked respect for the Agent they’d just lost. Steve and Tony walked solemnly side by side back to the bridge, previous arguments forgotten as they took seats at the conference table, watching as Fury entered the room, followed closely by Maria. He stood at it’s head for a few moments, reflecting on something in his hand.

“These were in Phil Coulson’s jacket pocket. I guess he never  _ did _ get you to sign them.” The tall man threw the blood spattered cards onto the table, Steve leaning forwards and picking one up, looking down at his own painted face, now covered with the blood of a man who didn't deserve to die.

“Where’s Josephine?” Tony piped up, not looking at any of them as he spoke, simply staring into space.

“Agent James and Thor were trapped in Loki’s cell when it dropped. Hopefully they survived but… The whole point of it was that anyone inside  _ wouldn’t _ .” He took a moment, eyes turning upward toward the brunt ceiling.

“We’re dead in the air up here, No communications, location of the cube, Banner… Thor… James...” Steve’s gaze snapped to Fury as he spoke, hoping to God that James was alright.

“I got nothing for you. Lost the only family I have  _ and _ my one good eye. Think I had that coming…” Tony clenched his fist and Steve flicked the card back down to the table, sick of looking at his own bloody reflection.

“ _ Yes _ … SHIELD was going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, cause I was playing something even riskier.” Tony fiddled with his hands, listening to the familiar words he’d heard not so long ago when Fury had first approached him, Nat and James in tow.

“There was an idea, Stark and James already knew this, called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people… To see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles  _ we _ never could.” Steve looked to Tony who was avidly avoiding anyone's eyes, still staring at his hands with a hard expression, one that betrayed more emotion than he probably wanted it to.

“Phil Coulson… Josephine James… They died still believing in that idea. In heroes-” The billionaire stood, hands unclenching, taking one look around the destroyed bridge and walking away. He didn't want to hear anymore, he couldn’t take it. Fury watched as he left, bowing his head.

“Well… It’s an old fashioned notion.”

\---

James yelled as the death trap they were in continued to fall, spinning as it did so. She was lucky Thor had picked her up as the much stronger demi-god was taking most of the impact himself, even so though, the force of being slammed around still hurt like a bitch. With one hand outstretched, he’d managed to grab hold of Mjolnir, and had smashed the glass a little with one hit as they’d fallen. James couldn’t quite see anything clearly but she had noticed the mass of green coming toward them at a much faster rate.

“Thor if you have any plans now would be a great time!” She screamed and he seemed to hold her tighter.

“Prepare yourself!” he called back, pushing himself off one side and smashing through the other, hammer first, freeing them from the cell just in time as not a moment later James heard the tell tale explosion. Unfortunately, Thor hadn’t exactly been aiming for anything in particular and they crashed into the ground some ways away with such force that upon impact he accidentally let her go. Luckily she slid to a stop fairly quickly, the momentum of her own fall not being that bad, but she didn’t make any plans to get up anytime soon.

Her whole body hurt in ways she’d never quite felt before and she groaned loudly after what felt like an hour of drifting in and out of consciousness. Attempting to push herself up and get her face out of the dirt it was currently lying in, James swore loudly realising she must have broken her arm, or at the very least fractured it. The same one that she’d dislocated only hours earlier.

“Fuck!” Finally in a sitting position, the brunette looked around, realising they'd landed in a field of some sort as all she was greeted with was the view of long weed like flowers. They would have stood at at least half her height meaning that from a sitting position she couldn't see around them and she sighed, carefully manoeuvring to stand, realising her ankle was kind of sore, but she pushed on, knowing she’d just have to deal with that later. James looked around, trying to get her bearings. They’d flown farther than she had originally thought, as she couldn’t see the crashed cell anywhere in sight, only some destroyed flowers some way off, and she ran to it, guessing she’d found her companion.

“Thor?!” She pushed through the flowers toward where she could see him standing up and he looked her way. She grabbed his arm as he wavered, helping the bulky blonde to his feet. Much like herself he was covered with dirt and scratches from the glass and he thanked her softly when he’d found his balance.

“Where are we?” He asked after a few moments, looking for himself around the field. James shrugged, pulling her injured arm close to her body, trying not to jostle it too much.

“I was hoping you’d be able to tell me.” He looked down at her gesturing to her injury.

“We will need to see to that before we find Loki.” He said and James was glad he didn't immediately want to try and snap it back into place like last time. She hummed looking down at it.

“The pain is mostly in my forearm so I think it’ll be alright to wrap it up tightly until we can get to a professional. Help me rip the neck off my suit.” She pointed to the ample material the cowl neck of her undersuit offered and Thor nodded, stepping closer and grabbing the black fabric at the seam, tearing it around until it detached. James helped him pull it over her head and directed him in tying it securely around her forearm, but she had no need to as he seemed to have some idea of what he was doing. When he had finished typing the material he went to his own wrist, pulling off the bracer he had there and placing it carefully over her makeshift bandage, tightening it so as to keep the arm from moving too much. She smiled tightly when he was done, waving it around a little. It still hurt but for now it would have to do.

“Thanks. And thanks for saving me, twice.” She received a nod in return and a small smile as Thor began looking around.

“I must find Mjolnir…” He explained after a few seconds, taking a step away from her, walking toward where he could sense its presence. He approached carefully, looking down at where the hammer was sitting in the dirt and for the first time since he had defeated Loki, he felt a sense of self doubt in calling it. He stared for minutes, contemplating, before reaching down, slowly, and wrapping his hand around the hilt. He lifted it up, relief rushing through his veins and he turned to James.

“You may want to take a step back…” He said and the brunette didn't have to be asked twice, having felt the power the hammer held on one occasion before. He held it to the sky, dark clouds beginning to swirl around them, a thunderstorm coming on quickly. If James didn't trust Thor, she’d have felt mighty scared but instead she just watched in awe as a bolt of thunder struck Mjolnir, creating armour and his familiar red cape from nothing. He looked out to her, holding out his free hand.

“Lady James we must away!” She took a deep breath, before moving toward him against the harsh wind, and he pulled her close.

“I suggest holding tightly to my neck.” He said and she did as told, not wanting any chance of falling. Once she seemed comfortable enough, Thor wrapped his arm tightly around her and then they were gone, as fast as a bolt of lightning across the sky.

\---

Tony stood, staring down at the now closed hatch that Thor and James had fallen through, wondering what she must have been feeling in her last moments. His eyes flickered when he heard movement to his left, seeing a familiar blue and red out the corner of his eye.

“Was he married?” Steve asked, crossing his arms against his chest. Tony breathed in sharply.

“No. And SHIELD was the only family Josephine had.” Steve lowered his head. He hadn't fully accepted his friend’s death yet, and he wouldn’t until it was confirmed. She had been with Thor and hopefully he’d gotten them both out alive. But the possibility was still there.

“She was a good Agent… They both were.” Tony scoffed, turning toward Cap with a scowl on his face.

“They were idiots for taking on Loki alone.”

“They were doing their job.”

“James at least had a chance, but Coulson… He was out of his league. He should have waited. They should hav-”

“Sometimes there isn’t a way out, Tony…” Steve walked toward him seeing that the other man’s lashing out was only in pain at what they’d lost. Tony shook his head, walking past the blonde.

“Right… I forgot before…”

“Is this the first time you’ve lost a soldier?” That made the billionaire stop, whipping around with his hand pointed at Steve’s chest, anger clear on his face this time.

“We _ are not _ soldiers.  _ Josie _ was not a soldier.” His words caused Steve to look down. He was right after all, they weren’t soldiers, and neither was he anymore.

“I know. I don’t trust Fury as much as you do, but right now we need to put that behind us and get this done. Now Loki needs a power source, if you can put together a li-”

“He made it personal.” Tony cut him off, looking back down at the shute.

“That’s not the point…”

“No, that’s exactly the point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?”

“To tear us apart…” Steve supplied as if it were obvious.

“Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but… he knows he’s got to take us all down to win right?  _ That’s _ what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be  _ seen _ doing it… He wants an audience…” Steve nodded, catching on to what the other man was saying, turning to follow him as Tony moved back past him and up the stairs.

“Right… like his act in Stuttgart!”

“Yeah, but that’s just previews, this, this is opening night and Loki! He’s a full tail diva! He wants flowers, parades, a monument in the sky with his name plaster-” Steve gave him a look, his mind immediately going to the recently opened Stark tower. Tony pursed his lips.

“Son of a bitch.”

\---

“Please tell me you’re going to appeal to my humanity…?” Loki questioned, watching carefully as Tony made his way inside the living levels of Stark Tower, walking directly toward the bar.

“Actually I’m planning on threatening you.” Loki laughed.

“You should have left your armour on for that…” He told him and Tony shrugged.

“Yeah probably, but it’s seen a bit of mileage and you’ve got the, ah, Glow Stick of Destiny. Would you like a drink?” He offered, making his way round to the back of the bar and grabbing himself a glass.

“Stalling won’t change anything.” The demi-god made clear and Tony turned, waving a hand.

“No! Threatening. No drink? You sure? I’m having one…” Loki growled, turning away to face the window in frustration.

“The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?” He looked back at Tony as he poured a drink from a square container, placing it back on the counter.

“The Avengers.” He shrugged nonchalantly at Loki’s questioning glance.

“It’s what we call ourselves, we’re kind of a team… Earth’s mightiest heroes type thing.” He grinned internally, knowing James would have laughed at that.

“Yes… I’ve met them.” Loki smiled, and Tony played along.

“Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction I’ll give you that one but, let’s do a headcount here.” He took a sip, placing the glass down.

“Your brother the demi-god, a living legend, who, kinda lives up to the legend, a man with  _ breathtaking _ anger management issues, a couple of master assassins, and  _ you _ big fella, have managed to piss off every single one of them.”

“That was the plan” Loki replied, pacing about as Tony managed to sneakily put on his Iron Man mark VII calling bracelets.

“Not a great plan see, when they come… And they will, they’re coming for you.” The billionaire walked closer now, and Loki shifted.

“I have an army.”

“We have a hulk. And a woman who will gladly freeze you in place while he beats you to a pulp.”

“Oh, I thought I’d killed her?” That ruffled Tony's feathers a little and he moved even closer, in a probably unwise move.

“That’s not the point! There is no throne! No version of this where you come out on top.” He took a money letting his words sink in.

“And maybe your army comes and maybe it’s too much for us, but it’s all on you.” Loki smiled, knowing he’d hit a nerve and Tony took another sip of his drink.

“Cause if we can’t protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we’ll avenge it.”

“How will your friends have time for me, when they’ll be so busy fighting you?” The dark haired man stepped into Tony’s personal space, lifting his sceptre and thrusting it at his heart. There was a brief noise of powering up that died quickly and Loki looked down at it, confused. He tried again.

“This usually works…” He mumbled to himself and Tony shrugged.

“Well performance issues aren’t uncommon, One out of fiv-” The demi-god grasped him by the throat before he could finish, lifting him off the ground and into the air.

“You will  _ all _ fall before me!” He said, pushing the billionaire back and throwing him through the window.

“Deploy! JARVIS deploy!” He screamed as he fell levelling out his arms so that the armour would know where to come. He sighed in relief as he felt the metal attached to his wrists, covering his body in a cold but comforting hug. He turned the thrusters on right before he hit the ground, flying back up as quickly as he could, catching Loki when he was just about to turn away.

“Oh, and there’s a few other people you pissed off. Their names are Phil and James.” And just as he blasted the demi-god backwards, the Tesseract pulsed, releasing a beam that created a hole in the sky, pulling the fabric of the world apart and forming a pitch-black portal that the Chitauri army slowly began seeping through. Tony stared wide eyed.

“Right… Army…”

\---

The Chitauri had already begun their assault on the city below by the time Thor and James arrived. He dropped her just at the base of Stark Tower, intending to go up and confront Loki alone. She’d wished him luck before he disappeared, immediately working to lessen the amount of grunt soldiers on the ground. Around her cars began exploding and she froze them in a wave as they hit the air, protecting the panicking people that would have been crushed below them.

“Get into the buildings! Hide!” She screamed at the civilians who seemed to have no problems doing as she said, scattering into the surrounding architecture as more of the aliens landed around them. And James did what she did best, pulling out her guns and attacking as ferociously as she could, moving to hand to hand when they got closer and she ran out of ammo, dodging their blows and guns easily enough. They were larger, and probably a lot stronger than her, but she was small and moved quickly enough that they hardly landed any hits. She jumped up on one of their backs and put her hands either side of it’s head, freezing it solid and landing in a roll when the creature fell to its knees. The area seemed clear for now and she ran toward the sound of more fighting, skidding to a stop when she saw Nat, Clint and Cap up ahead, Steve vaulting over the side of the bridge before she could reach them.

“Nat watch out!” She yelled, catching the other woman’s attention just in time as one of the Chitauri aimed it’s gun toward her head, James running and tackling it by grabbing its neck with her thighs, spinning around and bringing her hands to its chest, drowning it as the ice she created in its lungs (or alien equivalent) melted faster than she could create it. It fell to the ground, water running from its jaws as James stood up. Nat flashed her a look.

“That was my move.” She stated, continuing to shoot at the aliens around them

“Only partly. I modified it for me.”

“I can see that.” The redhead looked briefly down at the twitching creature before moving on, covering Clint as he helped a bus full of people escape.

“Barton’s alright now?” James questioned, pulling a knife from her boot and throwing it straight into the head of a monster who got too close, leaping over the car she was taking cover behind and pulling it out, using it to disable a few more Chitauri who had closed in. Clint had returned to them now and nodded at James with a smile.

“I  _ love _ watching you work.” He said and the brunette shook her head a wide grin on her face.

“It’s like, you’re so small, but you’re a goddamned hurricane. It’s scary.” He continued making her laugh as she pulled the gun on her thigh and took out an alien that was coming up behind him. Nat gave him a look.

“Focus.” She said just as Steve returned, jumping over the barrier and knocking a few Chitauri to the ground. He looked up at Nat and Clint, nodding swiftly, before turning to the person who he’d seen aiding them, but hadn’t been able to make out in the flurry of battle.

“Than-” He stopped speaking when he saw James, holstering her gun with a smile.

“Josie?! You’re alive?!” He said breathily, walking towards her and enveloping her in a bear hug. James held onto him but shot Nat a confused look over his shoulder. Clint frowned, leaning into his redheaded companion.

“When was she dead?”

“Mmhm I’m alive…It's good to see you.” She pulled back from him, looking up at his masked face and he took in her ridiculously banged up body.

“Your arm?” He grasped the broken appendage lightly, looking at the foreign bracer that was holding it in place.

“Broke when we fell. Thor helped me wrap it up, even gave me this thing to cast it. Are you alright?” She held the hand that had been holding her arm, studying his face. Behind their backs, Nat and Clint shared a look. Steve took a breath and nodded.

“I’m fine, better now I know you’re not dead. I think Tony cried.” James laughed, lowering her head. However much she hated his antics, she cared for the billionaire more than she let on, he made her laugh and when he wasn’t being an asshole, he treated her like a person, not an assassin, or a freak, or an Agent.

“I’ll have to apologise for making him care about someone other than himself for five minutes.” She joked and Steve smiled a little wider, squeezing her in a hug again.

“I’m so glad you’re alright.” He told her, closing his eyes for a moment. She’d grown on him so much since they first met, and even since this whole debacle had started. He was definitely moving within driving distance when this was all over, if she didn't disappear again that was.

“Alright guys, we gotta move…” Clint called, nocking an arrow as a group of larger Chitauri approached. But before he could shoot, they were gripped by lightning, Steve and James stepping back as they were electrocuted and Thor landed in front of them, falling slightly on a car next to him. Steve cleared his throat and the group moved together.

“What’s the story upstairs?” Cap asked as James inspected the apparent wound in Thor’s side, he looked down at her.

“Loki’s doing.” He told her as she placed a hand against it and sealed it with ice. He winced but nodded his thanks.

“The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable.” He said, and Steve huffed, just as Tony flew by.

“Thor’s right, we gotta deal with these guys.” Iron Man whizzed past, chased by several Chitauri on hovering chariots of some kind. He did a double take inside his helmet at James as he went, smiling to himself and thanking whatever higher being out there was responsible, most likely Thor. Nat nodded.

“How do we do this?”

“As a team.”

“I have unfinished business with Loki…” Thor announced, eyes facing skyward and Clint reloaded his arrows.

“Yeah? Get in line.” he said making James step forward, hands on her hips.

“He dropped me off a flying ship and he killed Coulson. I’m in on this revenge scheme too.” She announced darkly and Steve looked at them.

“Save it. Loki’s gonna keep this fight focused on us and that’s what we need, without him these things could run wild.” He took a breath, walking further down the bridge and turning to face Stark Tower.

“We got Stark up top, he’s gonna need us t-” He paused midway through his battle plan, turning as the group spotted Banner arriving on a Moped. James raised an eyebrow, looking to Thor who simply shrugged. She had wondered where he’d gotten to.

“So… This all seems… Horrible.” He stated as the team approached him. Nat bit her lip.

“I’ve seen worse.” Bruce lowered his head and James remembered how she had fallen through the floor with Banner in the explosion, and how she must have been there when he had Hulked out. He apologised.

“No… I think we could use a little worse.”

“Stark, we’ve got him, Banner, just like you said.” Steve spoke into the earpiece that must have been in his helmet.

“Then tell him to suit up. I’m bringing the party to you…” He came flying around the corner up ahead, pursued by the giant flying worm looking thing as the team began looking rather worried.

“I-I don’t see how that’s a party..” Nat said nervously, taking a step back. James lifted her fist, as it covered with ice.

“It’s a party I wish I was late for.” She said watching as Bruce turned around, beginning to walk towards the giant monster. Steve called out to him, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Doctor Banner! Now might be a good time for you to get angry!” Bruce turned half around, looking at them over his shoulder.

“That’s my secret Cap. I’m always angry.” And with that he begun the transformation into the hulk, his shirt ripping off as his muscles began to swell and his skin turned a sickly shade of green. James let go an internal breath of relief when his pants managed to stay on and she sighed, glad she wasn’t going to be subjected to a giant green dick flapping about. That probably wasn't what she shouldn’t have been worried about right now, but it was the first thought that crossed her mind. He ran forward meeting the monster with a punch the face hat toppled it, the team moving back as it rolled over itself, Tony calling out for them to hold on as he shot a rocket, blowing the thing in half as Clint and Nat dived out of the way, and Steve covered himself and James with his shield as the monster exploded above them, it’s body falling off the side of the bridge and landing below. The sound of the Chitauri screaming in retaliation could be heard across the city and the Hulk, having moved to protect the others roared back. Behind him Tony landed and the Avengers, now in formation stood back to back, readying themselves for the next onslaught of enemies. Tony turned to James, his faceplate sliding up.

“Cap you told me Banner was here, not that Josie had figured out jesus’ secret of eternal life, I personally think that’s the bigger thing.” He said sarcastically and James rolled her eyes.

“It’s nice to see you too, Stark.”

“Uh, guys…?” Nat called their attention to the sky, where more soldier and more of the giant worm things were pouring out of the portal. Iron Man’s face plate closed back over the man insides face.

“Call it Cap.” He said and Steve cleared his throat.

“Alright, listen up, until we can close that portal, our priority is containment.” He turned back towards them, barking orders.

“Barton, I want you on that roof be our eyes in the sky, call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything that gets more than three blocks back, you turn it back or you turn it to ash.” Clint looked toward Iron Man.

“Can you give me a lift?”

“Sure. Clench up Legolas.” And they flew off and up. Steve continued.

“Thor, you gotta bottleneck that portal, try and slow ‘em down, you got the lightning. Light those bastards up.” Thor swung Mjolnir around, also taking to the sky quickly. Cap looked toward Josie and Nat.

“We’ll stay on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hulk…” The giant green creature turned, growling in response.

“Smash.” He said and with a grin Banner roared again. James turned to Steve then, her unfrozen hand on his arm.

“I think I should go after Loki.” She said and he was about to deny her when she cut him off.

“No I mean, in Germany when he hit me with a blast from his sceptre, it didn't hurt me, it actually made me stronger if anything, I think I have a chance at beating him.” Steve looked at her for a moment, considering her words.

“Fine, you focus on Loki, but if he-”

“I know. I’ll call for backup.” She smiled at him, patting his arm and turning to the Hulk.

“Bann- Hulk! A lift please?” She called and Nat looked at her like she was slightly insane.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, why not? It’ll be fun.” The brunette replied, yelping when Hulk grabbed her around the middle, far gentler than she would have thought, and leapt into the air.

He clambered along side buildings, tearing into them to keep his balance while destroying any Chitauri that happened to get in their way. They eventually reached an office building nearby Stark Tower and the Hulk deposited her on top, patting her head with a friendly growl (if there was such a thing) and jumped away. James took a moment, trying not to be sick as she leant forward on her knees, eventually standing up straight again and placing a hand to her ear, her hair blowing around her head messily.

“Clint I’m looking for Loki.” She said, her own eyes failing her as she looked around the city. He wouldn't stray far from the Tesseract she bet and was right when Clint’s crackling reply came back.

“He’s about to pass you, corner of 7th and moving!” James spun around, getting her bearings and spotting the demi-god on his alien chariot, speeding toward her location. She took a deep breath, mind quickly doing the math, but Barton piped up.

“I’ll tell you when to jump.” He said and she climbed up on the ledge, her heart catching in her chest as the wind pushed her around.

“Now!” James threw herself down, wondering if she'd made a terrible mistake for a moment but the thought was quickly forgotten when she hit the back of the speeder, and she grasped for something, anything as she tried to keep from falling off. She froze her hand to the bar she’d grabbed just as a Chitauri soldier turned to see her, stabbing down with it’s glowing spear. James only just managed to move, swinging her herself to the side and she tripped the alien, forming more ice around her fist and punching in and through its chest, forcing her hand open and sending ice shards into its innards. She pulled out, a disgusted look on her face as she shook off the odd alien blood. Breaking her hand from the bar she’d stuck herself to, James stood carefully, noticing the platform she'd landed on was the one behind, but connected to Loki’s, the gunship so to speak. The soldier handling the gun was easily enough taken out, its body falling to the side and plummeting to the earth below as the brunette figured out how it was she was going to get across the thin wires connecting the two pods. Sensing that something was wrong Loki turned, a look of shock covering his face and he raised his sceptre, shooting a blast of energy at James that staggered her, but she stayed standing. He'd done just as she’d hoped.

With a grin that went from ear to ear James stood to her full (5 foot flat) height and let him watch as she leapt the gap between them, her only slightly enhanced abilities made temporarily stronger by the energy from his weapon. She punched him straight in the face, more than ready for their rematch as he tumbled backwards, his large horned helmet hindering his ability to move as quickly.

“How  _ dare _ you?!” He shrieked as he stood, realising the staff had no effect on her and placing it down.

“I don't know, you tried to kill me so I think this’ll make us even.” James raised her frozen fists in a fighting stance, blocking as Loki jumped forwards, spurred by anger. 

They fought equally matched for a while, but James could feel herself getting tired, and her already scabbed knuckles breaking every time she hit him with her covered fists. She’d managed to get him on his back, fallen against the side of the chariot when he grabbed the sceptre, catching her off guard when he whacked her in the face with it, sending her almost out the back, but she held on, once again freezing her hands to the ledge, refusing to die here. Loki stood above her, foot trying to break the ice she kept creating.

“And here we are again, the only thing between you and the ground is me…”

“Clint, a little help?!” She called making Loki frown.

“Wha-?!” He caught the arrow just as it was about to hit him and he smiled, obviously not seeing what James saw. She slowly let the ice on her hands cover up his ankle too. She wasn't going to let him get away again. She looked for a place to land, spotting Stark Tower almost directly below them as Hawkeye's arrow exploded, sending them tumbling down to the surface below, still attached at the wrist and foot, a bondage that broke the minute they hit the ground. James saw Nat land not too long after, not having realised she had also been airborne, but she turned her focus back to Loki as they both stood, circling around each other. A small distance away she noticed the Hulk heading straight for them. She smirked, waiting for Loki to have his back to the inside of the apartment before dropping, hitting the deck stomach first. The demi-God stared at her like she was insane.

“What on  _ earth _ are you doing?” He demanded, eyes narrowed. James tsk’ed under her breath.

“Just wait for it.”

“Wait for wha-” he was cut off as the Hulk roared flying over top of her and tackling him inside the building with a force that broke the windows around them. James pushed herself to her feet, ready to tie up the bastard the minute Hulk had finished. She watched as the dark haired man tried to command the green creature, as if his titles were worth anything now. The Hulk simply grabbed his feet and threw him around the room, leaving him in an indent in the floor when he deemed he’d had enough. He patted James on the head again as he walked past her.

“Good Agent.” He growled simply, jumping out the windows and leaving James wondering just how much of Banner was still in there. She approached Loki, lying on the floor and wheezing pathetically, and became acutely aware that her broken arm was hurting like a bitch. She glared down at him, outstretched a hand and freezing his feet together before doing the same to his wrists and taking a step back. He wasn't going  _ anywhere _ anytime soon. James looked outside to where Nat was announcing she had closed the portal and she sighed in relief, looking to her left at the bottle of  _ whatever  _ on the bar and shrugged, sauntering over and grabbing it by its neck, coming back and almost collapsing on the stairs in front of where the demi-God now lay, watching her closely as she took a large swig.

“They’ll  _ never _ accept you.” He said breathily making James look down at him with a glare.

“What?”

“The people you fight so hard to protect, they will never accept you.” He looked at her with a small smirk, and James took pleasure in seeing the pain written behind his eyes. She took another sip.

“That's great. I don't need them too. I've got a team of people who don't give a shit about how or why I can do what I do and they’re the  _ only _ ones whose opinions I give two shits about.” She placed the bottle down next to her, lifting a hand and slowly covering Loki’s mouth with ice, grumpily making sure his nostrils were free to breath. He tried yelling at her, falling into a muffled sound when the ice fully closed his lips and James picked the bottle back up, putting a finger to her mouth in a shushing motion.

“It’s quiet time now.” She deadpanned and leant back on her unbroken arm, raising a finger to her ear.

“I’ve secured Loki. How many of you have done your good deed for the day?” She spied Nat walking toward her and she waved, offering the bottle out to her Russian friend.

“Uh, well I just delivered a nuke meant for New York into the portal, almost died for a minute and now I'm gonna treat you all to shawarma, so where does that put me?” Tony’s voice sounded tired and she exchanged a look with Natasha who had taken a sip and was now handing the bottle back to her.

“I think that makes you the winner…” Nat said in reply, making James laugh, but her smile quickly turned to confusion as she sat back, waiting for them to come.

“What the hell is shwarma?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost done!! Only the aftermath to deal with now! Thank you all for reading this far, it honestly means so much to me <3
> 
> Commenters, subscribers and kudo-leavers are the best, thank you so much <3  
> Thank you to Amy, Gee and Erin for busting my butt to finally write this. Ya'll are the greatest <3 see you soon!


	9. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor heads back to Asgard and the team scatter.

New York was in shambles, anywhere within walking distance of Stark Tower at least but luckily the Avengers  _ had _ managed to maintain a perimeter. TV and news stations had been playing non stop around the clock coverage of the events over the past week and James wondered if it were ever going to calm down. She finished packing a few things from her hospital room, sitting down on the edge of the made up bed and listened to a woman describe how Captain America had saved her. Things were going to be different now, luckily for her it didn't seem like anyone outside of SHIELD had known she was even there, but still, the dynamics would change. There was a soft knock on the open door and James stood, seeing Nat and Clint peering inside.

“You almost ready to go?”

“Yeah, I'm all done here.” Clint came in, picked up her bag for her and lead the way out. She’d already been signed out of the ward days ago, for privacy reasons and she reminded herself to thank Tony when she saw him soon. They were on their way to a fairly secluded spot in Central Park where Thor could a little more discreetly teleport the Tesseract and Loki back to Asgard. The ride was only short from the hospital, even in New York traffic and James jumped out of the matte black sports car quickly, excited to see everyone again. She’d had to have a corrective surgery on her fractured arm simply due to the amount she had used it during her fight against the Chitauri and had remained very tired and asleep for a few days after, so anyone who did come and visit her outside of Clint and Nat, she hadn't remembered in her drugged up state. She had also assumed they would have been busy recovering themselves. She spotted Thor first, talking amicably with Doctor Selvig and she grinned, waving when the big blonde noticed her, enveloping her tiny frame in a large hug that lifted her feet from the pavement.

“Agent James! It is good to see you well!” He laughed upon placing her back on the ground.

“You too big guy! Oh hey listen, I have this for you…” she trailed off, digging around in her satchel bag until she found what she was looking for and produced his bracer, holding it out to him. Thor simply placed his hand over hers and gently pushed it back towards her.

“Keep it. As a memento.” He said and the brunette nodded, knowing that when he left this time she wasn't sure when she was going to see him again.

“Oh good, you guys already did the soppy goodbyes without me.” Tony had just pulled up when he called out, making the others turn to where he and Banner were approaching them. James rolled her eyes.

“Can’t you just be nice? For once?”

“I bought you shwarma, what more do you want?” The brunette shook her head and watched as Tony made his own goodbyes.

“Have fun in, ah, Asgard.” Tony supplied, slapping Thor’s bicep like he'd done after they first met. Thor shook his head, accepting the goodbye with gratitude and stepping off to greet Nat and Clint. James turned to Bruce, waving a quick hello, but he was already in deep conversation with Doctor Selvig.

“I’ve been meaning to thank you, for sorting out the hospital for me.” She said quietly and Tony waved her off.

“It’s nothing. Least I could do after you took care of Loki.”

“Technically Banner took care of Loki.”

“And now he’s living with me, so next time you do better and we’ll open you a wing at the tower.” He snapped back and James scoffed.

“Tony I’d literally rather live in antarctica than with you.” The pair made faces at each other before Tony straightened up.

“Ah, Captain!” James whipped her head to the front hearing the billionaire’s announcement and saw Steve walking over from not too far off, having just parked his motorcycle. He was dressed in a similar fashion to when she’d taken him into SHIELD, and his face was completely clear of any indication he’d been in a fight. Admittedly, she healed rather quickly, but  _ he _ was ridiculous, showing no signs of injury whatsoever ever while her arm was still in a (bright pink) cast and her face looked worse than it had when she'd started. He nodded at her with a small smile on his face.

“You look like hell.”

“Ha ha ha. Shut up.” She laughed sarcastically as he pulled her into a hug, letting go and shaking the hand of Selvig who was closest. They all watched on silently as the doctor placed the cube in a containment case and handed it to Thor. The demi-god offered one side to his muzzled brother, looking around the group, and nodding at them before he activated his side and they were consumed in a glowing blue light.

They all took a step back when they were gone, breathing a sigh of relief that it was finally all over.

No one really stayed around to chat, Selvig and the Agents looking after him left fairly quickly, while Bruce and Tony prepared to leave, only stopping when Steve approached, hand outstretched and they shook, sharing a few words James couldn't hear.

“Josie we’re leaving soon.” James wasn't sure when people had stopped calling her James and had started using her first name, but for once in her life she didn't actually care. She turned to Nat and waved her off.

“Think I'm gonna stay for a while, will see you back at HQ later!” She called out watching as she and Clint climbed back in their car and drove off, waving a quick goodbye to an approaching Steve as they went.

“So…” He said.

“So…” She replied and they shared a look, walking up to the railings overlooking more of the park and standing silently for a while.

“What now? Are you… Are you gonna stay with SHIELD?” Steve looked down at her, a frown covering her face and she shrugged.

“I don't know, Probably…” She shook her head turning to face him.

“I spoke to Fury, and I don't agree with everything he said, I don't even know if I can trust him… But I know his heart was in the right place, he… meant well…” James pursed her lips, it was a subject she’d thought about non-stop for the past few days, and she still wasn't fully decided.

“I don't know where I’d go, what I’d do if I didn't work for SHIELD…”

“I’m sure Tony would help you out with something.” Steve replied, and James laughed mirthlessly.

“With what skills? Steve, all I've ever been taught how to do was lie, cheat and kill… I have nothing applicable for the real world.” The blonde nodded, he didn't really have an answer for that.

“If you’re going to stay then I will.” He said after a few moments, making James turn to him, eyes narrowed.

“What?”

“If you stay, I will.” He repeated and the brunette shook her head.

“No I heard what you said, I just don't understand…” Steve shrugged, fixing her with a small smile.

“We’re friends, I’d like to stay close. And yes, before you ask; I’ve thought about it.” James was a bit taken aback. She knew they were friends, she certainly hoped he thought they were friends, but she hadn't expected… loyalty from him, not like this. She made a face, looking back out over the park with a nod.

“Well then. Sounds like your mind is all made up. You’ll probably have to move back to DC?”

“Probably. Hey listen, you hungry? There's a really good authentic pasta place near my apartment…”

“Boy, do you even need to ask if I'm hungry? I'm tiny, I burn off fat faster than I can process it,  _ of course _ I'm hungry!”

“Great. Italian it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short one to finish off The Avengers! Thank you all so much for reading <3
> 
> The next chapter or two are going to be intermission style one-shots that take place between Avengers and CA:WS.
> 
> As for Winter Soldier itself, Im not 100% right now, but you can expect it to be a bit shorter than The Avengers. The way I've always imagined Josie in CA:WS is not as big part, my whole goal with this series was to create something that ran parallel to the already established MCU. I won't be replacing Natasha with Josephine, Josie has her own narrative that fits into the events of SHIELD crashing, however I also don't want to focus on that too much either. long story short; CA:WS is going to be a little shorter. :)
> 
> Thanks so much for sticking around thus far <3


	10. Racing Stripes, Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve adjusts to life with SHIELD. Josie just wants a serious goddamn suit design from Tony.

“I’d ask Nat.” Steve looked up from the dossier he was reading, eyeing Josie as she popped the last meatball in her mouth.

“Oh?” He asked, placing down the file of another Agent, pulling the now empty tray of spaghetti towards him and giving the brunette a friendly glare. Josie swallowed.

“Yeah, well, you’ve worked with her before and despite appearances she's very loyal to SHIELD. And she's good at what she does, which is most important.” Steve stared at her in thought for a moment before grabbing Natasha’s folder and placing on the pile of accepted entries. It had been seven months since the Tesseract had been returned to Asgard and things had returned to relatively normal. Steve had moved back to DC to be closer to SHIELD’s main headquarters where he was currently working on putting together a black ops team like Fury had asked him. Now that Josephine was back from her most recent assignment, he was choosing its members with her input.

“Great. Well that only leaves one spot left.” He said, turning back to the file he’d been reading previously and Josie frowned.

“There's two left. You’ve gots six Agents all up, including Nat and yourself.” She gestured to the stack of files on his left and Steve looked up at her.

“Well I was assuming you’d be joining me, but if you’re gonna make me  _ ask… _ ” Steve trailed off and the brunette across from him made a face as what he said clicked.

“Well I- uh, I mean… I can't just… I need to run it past Fury first…” The blonde leant back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest.

“I already asked him. He says it's up to you.” The hint of a smile played on his lips. He was fairly certain he was correct in his assumption, but ultimately he did want it to be Josie’s choice.

“Steve I’ve never really worked in a team before…”

“You did in New York.” She bit into her lip as a million anxious thoughts ran across her mind, a gentle kick to her foot under the table pulling her out of it as Steve leant forward, covering her hand with his own.

“Jose, it's up to you, if you won't feel comfortable…”

“No! No… It’ll be fine. It’s just going to be different.”

“And different can be good.” He squeezed her hand, moving back again and she smiled tightly, wondering what she ever did to deserve a friend like Steve. He was good for her intense social anxiety, he always knew just what to say to people, and how to her to pull her out of a downwards spiral. And in turn she was good with him, when he would wake up in the middle of the night from a nightmare about Bucky or some other bad memory, she'd walk the short distance down the street to his apartment block, make him a coffee and set out a puzzle that they'd work on until he was ready to talk and/or sleep. They were a perfect fit and Josie was thankful she'd had the chance to meet him.

“I’ll let Fury know in the morning.” Steve said as he got up, circling the kitchen table and ruffling her hair as he collected their plates.

“Mhmn.” After a moment of rereading the same line twice over and still not really  _ seeing _ it, Josie gave up, setting it down and joining her friend at the sink, drying the dishes as he washed them.

“Speaking of Natasha, I think she’s trying to set me up with someone…” Steve said after a moment, remembering the odd conversation they’d had the other evening when she’d come over to deliver the documents. Josephine raised an eyebrow, a laugh bubbling out her throat.

“Oh? That does sound a bit like her, did she have anyone in particular in mind?” The blonde nudged her in a playful manner but shook his head.

“No, I think she was just offering… have you ever… thought about dating?” He'd never really heard her talk of normal things a person in their mid twenties would when she spoke of her personal life, but he'd come to understand that her personal life was pretty much spent with him or at work. Josie made a ‘hah’ sound, placing the clean dish in her hand down on the pile.

“I'm not really, you know, someone people want to date.” She said, but in truth she’d never really tried, she had never really wanted to. Steve frowned, he couldn't understand why she thought of herself so lowly, there were a large group of agents of SHIELD that resented her entire existence, but having gotten to know her, she was a wonderfully bright person who deserved to be treated better. He was just glad she was slowly starting to see it too.

“I'm sure there's someone out there…” he began, but didn't really know how to finish. Josie simply shrugged.

“Sure, maybe. But I’m not really bothered, you know?” Steve nodded, he felt similarly, while he was sure he'd fall in love again someday, it wasn't on his list of priorities any time soon. Right now he was content with the friendships he had around him.

“Yeah. I know.” They shared a smile, interrupted when the sound of AC/DC playing loudly sounded from the kitchen table and Josie jumped, recognising the ringtone she'd set for a particular genius-playboy-billionaire. She ran, grabbing it right before it went off.

“Tony! Hi!” She greeted, throwing the dish towel at Steve over the counter. He caught it expertly and leaned back against the sink, listening to what their mutual friend had to say.

“What? No. Tony the blue is fine, do not make it red. I do  _ not _ want a bright red suit. Okay. Yeah that soun-  _ No _ ! Tony  _ do not _ put flames on my legs.  _ Yes _ I’m sure. Alright, I’ll come by in the morning. Thanks. Bye.” Josie put her phone to her head, eyes closed and Steve chuckled, pushing himself from the cupboard.

“So still working on the suit with Tony then?” She shot him a deadly look, 100% fed up with the billionaire.

“Last week it was racing stripes, this week its flames. I honestly didn't think it would take this long! All I asked for were a few modifications to the original!” Steve shook his head, turning back to the kitchen with a grin on his face.

“That's why I didn't go to him, I just asked SHIELD.”

“Well, he actually did an okay job on the last one he designed for me…” She grumbled, nodding when Steve silently offered her yogurt.

They sat on the couch for the next hour finalising the team he’d be working with, occasionally breaking to make more coffee.

“You’re really needy, I've noticed.” Josie stated randomly, making Steve look up at her in offended confusion.

“Excuse me?”

“Well, you move down the block from me, and now you can't even handle me working on other missions. It's okay, I don't mind, it's just something you should work on.” It took the blonde a moment to realise she was joking, the slight quirk at the corner of her lips giving her away and he huffed, leaning back against the couch with his eyebrow raised.

“Oh yeah? Who had to call the internet company for you the other day cause the reception lady intimidated you?” Josie’s mouth made an overdramatic ‘o’ shape and she pointed at him, shifting in her position to seem taller.

“That's not fair!”

“Uh-huh.”

“No, come on, they're two entirely different things!”

“Jose, you would rather talk to a dog than its owner, I think you need me more than I need you.”

“Fine. You win. But you’d  _ rather _ talk to the dog too, you're just polite enough not too.” Steve threw the couch cushion at her with a grin, Josie bursting into laughter when it hit her lightly in the face and dropped to the floor. She yawned suddenly, looking at the loose watch on her wrist with a frown.

“God, it's like 1am…” She yawned again, unable to control it now, as if knowing the time made it worse. Steve frowned, looking at his own watch.

“You want to stay here?” He offered, knowing the weather outside was horrible and that neither of them would want to go out in it. Josie made a face, she did generally prefer her own bed, but staying over at Steve’s was actually often times more reassuring than the comfort of her own home. He raised an eyebrow, patting her knee as he got up.

“I’ll get you a towel…”

“The pink one please!”

“I know.” He smiled at her request, walking to the linen cupboard in his hall and pulling the freshly washed towel from the folded pile, tossing it to her when he got back and she thanked him.

“You go ahead, I'm going to put these files away.” He gestured to the bedroom, and by extension the bathroom, grabbing the discarded folders from the table as the brunette jumped away, calling another thank you over her shoulder. Steve shook his head, placing the files neatly on the desk in the den and grabbed their mugs from the coffee table, taking them to the sink and leaving them for the morning. By the time he had finished doing the small amount of cleanup he kicked himself to do, Josie had finished up in the shower and was standing at the bedroom door in her oversized sweats drying her hair, she always kept a pair at his since the first few times. The pants were large, but not massive and the drawstring was pulled as tight as it would go, the shirt however was a standard issue SHIELD polo that she practically swum in. It was old, very worn in and when Steve had asked her about it she’d simply told him it had once belonged to Fury.

“Alrighty, do you want base or foot?” She asked folding the towel up and Steve gave her a look.

“You always end up turning to face the same way I am anyway, why do you even ask anymore?” He nudged her in the side and brushed past her into the bedroom, Josie following, collapsing on the bed as he grabbed his pajamas and moved toward the bathroom.

“For someone who hates being touched by people, you sure do like cuddling up.” He said, grabbing his linen. Josie raised an eyebrow, sitting up and fixing him with a look.

“And for a guy who’s from the 40’s you sure do accept sleeping in the same bed as a woman easily.” She shot back and Steve pointed at her.

“You don't count.”

“Excuse me!?” He sat on the edge of his bed, taking his shoes off.

“And besides, I was poor, I shared a bed with my mother until I was 12.”

“Di-did you just compare me to your mother!” Josie scoffed, not sure why she was so insulted by the idea.

“What?” He asked turning to her distractedly and she shook herself out of it, dismissing him.

“No, nothing. You speak well of her so I'm sure it was a compliment.”

“What?”

“ _ Nevermind _ Steve…” She poked her tongue out at him and he left her looking slightly addled and she flopped back on the bed, a funny feeling settling in her stomach. She was confused as to why she didn't count to Steve and was even  _ more _ confused as to why she cared so much. Josie sighed, climbing under the sheets as she settling in on ‘her’ side of the bed. She always slept better when she stayed at Steve’s, not because she had harboured a crush on him at one point, something she was beyond over now, but because of the warmth he gave off. The ice Josie’s body allowed her to make, control and form had helped the agent out in many situations, giving her the upper hand or simply taking enemies by surprise. The only problem was that it was like her powers were actively trying to kill her. She couldn’t remember a time she wasn’t freezing cold and subsequently was always dressed for cool weather no matter the actual temperature outside. After the first few near-death experiences as a child in SHIELD’s care, the R&D department had developed a modified electric blanket, but safety concerns prevented it from being too effective and when she had moved out of the provided barracks as an adult, she had to make do with heating systems and throw rugs. Luckily for her, Steve never seemed to mind that she was cold to the touch and seemed fine with her leeching off his body warmth.

He was already dressed in his PJ’s when exited the bathroom, switching the light off and drowning the room in darkness as he crawled under the covers. Josie rolled to face him and he did the same, the pair a comfortable distance apart.

“I need to go see Tony tomorrow, if you’re not busy I’m sure he’d… Well it might be nice to catch up.” She changed the course of her sentence when she saw him raise and eyebrow in the dark. He nodded, making a noise of agreeance, already beginning to nod off. The brunette patted his arm, rolling over to face away from him in a more comfortable position.

“Night Steve.”

“Night Jose.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn Tony! Back at it again being a dick! Haha!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments, Kudos and Bookmarks/Subscribes are all appreciated! Ya'll keep me going <3
> 
> Will be doing a short sequel to this before moving on to CA:WS! I rewatched the movie yesterday and got some better insight into where I'm going to have Josie popping up. Like previously mentioned, She isn't going to be a massive part of the main plot but is definitely still around. I've come up with a pretty rounded idea on whats going to happen while Steve and Nat are being chased by HYDRA and how Josie is going to fit in.
> 
> This is also the first chapter I have started referring to Josie by her first name! When i originally conceived the character, she was known only as James and so when I wrote the first drafts of the first two chapters almost a year ago she didn't even have a name, but as time went on and I named her Josephine, I fell in love with her and i've called her Josie or Josephine ever since, so its actually been sort of odd for me to write the Avengers and still be referring to her simply as James.
> 
> Once again thank you to all those who've supported me, Erin, Amy, Gee and Conrad (who likes to punch me in the face with realism every now and then) I wouldn't have the motivation to write this with out any of you. Thank You <3 xx


	11. Racing Stripes, Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve meets with Fury to discuss his Strike team. Josie has an off-putting first impression of Secretary Pierce. Tony likes practical jokes.

“Ah there you are, was wondering when you were gonna decide to show!” Tony greeted Josie and Steve as they entered his workshop as directed by JARVIS who had also kindly adjusted the central heating upon reading the small woman's body temperature.

“Cap.” The billionaire nodded in Steve's direction, receiving one in return as the shorter man made his way over to them. Josie was busy unbundling herself, pulling her scarf from around her neck and discarding it along with her coat and jacket in Steve’s hands, the blonde placing them down on the nearest clean surface.

“I think you're really going to like this one…” Tony announced, sliding her a tablet along one of the benches, Josie spinning it around and inspecting the screen for a moment before glaring up at the grinning man in front of her.

“Are you fucking serious?” At her question Steve, took a step closer, peering over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow, suppressing a smile.

“What? You and Elsa have so much in common I just thought it was appropriate! I put a lot of work into this!”

“It's literally a screenshot from a children's costume website!”

“Well at least we know you’d fit.” Steve shrugged, receiving a thwack to his arm.

“Don't you dare get it on this too…” Tony rolled his eyes, grabbing the tablet and tapping the screen a few times before twirling it back around.

“And then there's this I guess.” He said, grabbing a spanner from the table top and walking back toward the… whatever it was he was working on. Josie’s eyes quickly took in the suit before her, Steve once again peering over her shoulder and inspecting it. She had to say she was thoroughly impressed by the changes she had asked for and the ones he’d upgraded himself.

“Wait so, the inner lining is-”

“A heating source while the outer layer is made from a stronger insulating Nomex.” The brunette looked toward the billionaire with a curious expression.

“Effectively what you see of the black suit is an electric blanket. It's actually something my dad was working on, but  _ he _ never figured how to stop people from overheating and blowing up.” He made an explosion sound, and Josie looked at him with squinted eyes.

“This isn't a backwards assassination attempt is it?”

“No, that's your business not mine.” She huffed at his retort but continued flicking through the detailed pages, realising there were more notes here than she was ready to read right now.

“JARVIS could you send me a copy of these notes? I want to go over them properly later.” She asked politely, looking toward the security camera in the corner of the room. She knew the AI didn't have a face or if he really cared about manners, but she always felt rude not addressing him like a person. He was practically part of Tony’s family anyway.

“Of course, Agent James.” She shot a thumbs up at the camera in the corner and placed the tablet down.

“It looks great, Tony. I can't wait to use it.” The small woman looked toward him, the unspoken question lingering between them.

“About that, there's a few things I want to go over before I put you in it, just a couple tests…Maybe a couple weeks? Months?” he waved his hand about in front of his face and Josie nodded. If he can concerns about it, then she'd trust his judgement.

“Is Doctor Banner around?” She asked suddenly, knowing that the other scientist had moved into Stark Tower to work with Tony shortly after the battle in New York.

“Had a late night, he's probably still asleep.” Tony replied, looking around for something before eyeing Steve.

“Cap do you think you could lift this up on a 35 degree angle?” The super soldier, who had been tinkering with something on the table shrugged, made his way to Tony’s position rolling his sleeves as he went.

“I can try?”

“Mhmn that's all we can hope for I guess.” The shorter man replied and Josie took a seat at the closest stool, watching in awe as Steve leant down, gripping the corner of the large metal device and lifted it easily, stopping when Tony commanded him.

“Alright just stay still while I tinker.”

 

In the end Tony had made Steve stay like that for almost an hour while he ‘tinkered’ eventually freeing him when Bruce arrived, pointing out to Tony that his remote for the mechanical lift was next to him the whole time. Josie, who had been sitting on her phone all the while she pretended that Tony and Steve weren't whispering about something, eyed the billionaires almost  _ too _ bashful expression, knowing he'd probably spotted it halfway through the hour and had refused to tell anyone.

“Okay fellas, it's time we probably head off, we have to check in at SHIELD soon and we still need to fly back to DC.” Luckily for them they'd had the use of a SHIELD quinjet which made the trip back in less than an hour, but they had to make sure they got to the New York HQ in time otherwise they’d miss the flight, which was a scheduled transfer trip. Bruce shook Steve’s hand, offering a wave to Josie while Tony dismissed them casually and the small brunette began rugging herself back up in her winter gear, getting ready to brave the cold outside. In the elevator on their way down to the ground floor Josie bid JARVIS goodbye, receiving a polite farewell in return.

“Do you want to head straight to SHIELD or did you want to grab some food first?” Steve asked as the automatic doors opened and they were immediately hit with the icy cold air outside. Josie took a moment, pulling on the gloves she’d stuffed in her coat pocket.

“How much time do we have?”

“About an hour.”

“Definitely food.” It was only 11am but they’d been up since 7am and had only managed to grab a quick breakfast before getting the flight to New York. They found a cozy diner nearby that wasn’t completely packed and settled in, agreeing to an early lunch. They ate quickly and caught their ride back to DC where Steve met with Fury to inform him of his choices for the Strike team. Josie was waiting outside the office, reading through the files JARVIS had sent her on her phone when the elevator opened. Normally she wouldn’t have paid any mind, but Fury’s office was the only one in this section of the building and the man who stepped out caught her attention. He was well dressed older fellow with short grey-blonde hair and a face that looked younger than he probably was. Josie couldn’t help but think he looked eerily familiar but she pushed it aside, focusing back on her phone as he approached Fury’s assistant.

“I’m sorry Mr. Secretary, Director Fury is just in a meeting, but he shouldn’t be too much longer.” The young woman told him and he thanked her kindly, opting to take a seat nearby.

“You’re Agent James, are you not?” He asked suddenly, pulling Josie from her thoughts and she stared at him in muted shock for a moment.

“I’m sorry… Have we met before?” She asked, thinking that she would have remembered him if they had. The man smiled with a shake his head but held his hand out for her.

“No, we haven't, but you were at the Battle of New York, am I right? Alexander Pierce, U.S Secretary of Defence.” Josephine blanched. That’s why he seemed so familiar.

“Sir, it’s an honor!” She greeted, shaking his hand for a few seconds before pulling back.

“No need for formalities Agent, I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.” He stated and the brunette couldn’t help but frown.

“Why is that sir?”

“Well, as im on my way to discuss with Director Fury, I will be having a far closer relationship with SHIELD than the role of U.S Secretary has previously required. My personal work with SHIELD makes that easier too.” Josie nodded, unsure of quite what to say, she was a little baffled by the whole conversation as it was.

“I see. Hopefully we will be able to continue doing good things here then.” She said, remembering some of her lessons in diplomacy, specifically, how to reply to someone without really saying anything at all. Pierce smiled, nodding turning to the door as it opened and Steve stepped out followed by Fury.

“Ah Secretary, I was just about to ask after you.” 

“Nice to meet you Agent James, perhaps I will see you soon.” Pierce grinned, both of the seated parties standing and shaking hands again before he brushed past her and into the waiting office. Nick gave her a look before moving inside, closing the door behind him. Steve looked at her with a puzzled expression but waited until they were inside the elevator to ask anything.

“Who was that?”

“U.S Secretary of Defence, Alexander Pierce. He knew who I was, that’s kind of weird…” she frowned at Steve who shrugged.

“Anyone who read the files on New York probably knows who you are, Jose.”

“Yeah but he seemed so… I don’t know, it was really… off putting, the way he kept saying we’ll be seeing more of each other. I’m nobody particularly important, if it were you I’d understand.” Steve shrugged again, pulling the keys to his motorcycle out and tossing her a helmet when they reached their parking spot.

“He was probably impressed with your personal record. Josie I’ve seen it and you’re easily one of the best agents SHIELD has right now. Don’t be surprised if that opens up more opportunities for you…” The blonde stepped over the top of the bike, holding it steady while his smaller companion got herself seated.

“Please just… Drive like a normal human being…” She begged as he began backing out and Steve chuckled.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, I  _ always _ obey the rules of the road.”

“The fury road? From Mad Max? Cause that’s what it feels like riding with you!”

“Better hold on tighter then.” He grinned as they took off, Josie grabbing tight to the front of his leather jacket, face pressing into his back as she yelped. She  _ hated  _ the fact SHIELD had given him the O-K for a motorcycle.  _ Hated _ it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short sequel. Moving on to CA:WS now!
> 
> Thanks again for reading, commenting, kudo'ing or subscribing <3


	12. CA:WS - 'Pierce's Little Errand Girl'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve returns from the mission on the Lemurian Star only to have his faith in SHIELD placed under strain. He turns to Peggy and Josephine for advice only to find out that Josie is being sent away on an extended mission where she will not be contactable.

Josie had arrived back in DC shortly after Steve’s Strike Team had, having been away on a separate mission for Pierce. Since she’d met him almost a year ago, her plans to be on Steve’s Strike team had been disrupted more than once, and Josephine was getting real tired of being what felt like Pierce’s errand girl. He sent Fury all kinds of missions, requesting that she head them up and he would often call her to his office for a debriefing. The missions weren’t exactly low level things either, they were high stature assignments that had her dealing with anyone from the President of the United States, to investigating suspected alien crash sites. She couldn’t help but feel like he was grooming her, or at least trying to buy her loyalty. Especially the later after her debriefing today where he had handed her a file on Mikhail Morozov and assignment her the ongoing mission to finally take him out for good. Josie sighed, shoving the file in to her glove box and zipping up a plain hoodie on over top her SHIELD polo, locking her car door and walking briskly to the entrance of the Smithsonian. She’d texted Steve upon landing and he had asked to meet her here, given their current exhibit on him, she had thought the request odd, but didn’t press too much on the phone. She entered the exhibition, pulling out her phone and rereading his description of what he wore.  _ Blue jacket and cap _ . She rolled her eyes. Hats inside would draw more attention than they’d hide you from, but she let it go. He obviously didn't want to be recognised. Josie made her way through the many displays, keeping an eye out for the man himself when a soft hand on her back made her jump, turning immediately to the blonde who stood behind her.

“Hey.” He said softly directing her to the side of the room where they wouldn’t hold up the walking traffic.

“Steve! How was the assignment?” She gave him a quick one armed hug, knowing instantly from his demeanor that something was wrong. He smiled fakely.

“Yeah it was good. No major hiccups…” He stared at her for a moment and she waited for him to spill the beans, but instead he just wrapped his arms around her, giving her a proper hug.

“I missed you.” She heard him say quietly, his head sitting atop hers as he slightly bent down. Josie frowned, pulling away.

“Steve are you okay?”

“I don’t know if I can talk about it.” He said, looking off, his face distant and his mind somewhere else.

“But are you sure you trust SHIELD?” Josie hadn’t been expecting the question and it threw her off.

“I uh, well… I don’t know if I’ll ever fully trust them. There’s so much going on that we don’t know, but my faith is in Fury… I think he’ll do what’s best. Steve, why?” The blonde turned back to her, listening closely to her answer and nodding solemnly.

“Even after the Tesseract?” The brunette breathed sharply in. SHIELD using the tesseract to make weapons had been the one thing that had shaken her trust in the organisation, and she still had her doubts that everything they did was for the best, but she didn’t really have anywhere else to go if she left them. They were doing their best to protect the people of Earth and sometimes that meant making compromises.

“Yes. Even after the Tesseract.” She nodded and Steve took a moment before sighing and the relief seemed to wash over his face.

“Fury showed me something this morning and I… I don’t entirely agree with it… But maybe I’m wrong…” Josie pursed her lips with a frown, wondering what the hell Nick could have shown him.

“I don’t really know what you’re talking about, but Steve your sense of right and wrong is pretty clearly defined… perhaps there’s a reason you don’t agree with it… I know it’s probably not much help, but maybe you should talk to Fury again tomorrow, try and understand whatever it is better… It might help clear your mind.” The blonde nodded, looking far more relaxed than he had when she’d found him.

“Yeah. I will. And thanks… You did help.” She nudged him in the side, offering a smile as they began to walk aimlessly around the show.

“Hey, I’ve got something I’ve gotta do at twelve, but if you wanted to meet again a little later?” Steve said then, and Josie nodded, looking at her watch. 11:30am.

“Yeah, sure… I was going to go clean up properly at home anyway. What time?” Steve thought for a moment.

“How’s two sound? Mine?” The brunette agreed, she was going to tell him about the new assignment she’d been given now, but decided to wait until later when he was hopefully feeling a little better. Until she could actually get Morozov, she might be away for quite a while, and would probably have to go in dark. She sighed as she watched him leave, not knowing how she would manage for months without talking to him. They’d become so close they practically lived at each other’s houses, she knew exactly how he took his coffee (or tea), what his favorite type of sandwich was and even the little known fact that he was an amazing artist. For her birthday that year he’d given her a hand drawn photorealistic picture of her and Fury, a remake of an image she had shown him of when she was about sixteen and had graduated high school early. It was a rare photograph of Nick looking remotely happy while Josie seemed to be pumping the air with her fist. She smiled at the memory of that day and sat back in her car seat, frowning a little. Opening the glove compartment and pulling the file out, she flicked through it quickly before tossing it on the passenger's seat and starting the vehicle, pulling out of the carpark and making her way across town to her small apartment.

 

\---

 

“You should be proud of yourself Peggy…” Steve looked to the photos on his old sweetheart’s bedside table, showing her young and full of life with her two beautiful children. Peggy turned her head, following his gaze to the photographs.

“I have lived a life. My only regret is that you didn’t get to live  _ yours _ .” She sounded so sad, her big brown eyes seeing straight through whatever happy facade Steve had put on for her.

“What is it?” His mouth quirked a little. She always had been able to call him on his bullshit.

“For as long as I can remember i just wanted to do what was right. I guess I’m just not quite sure what that is anymore…” He paused, thinking carefully about his words. He didn’t want to bore Peggy with the details, but really, he’d been entirely unhappy with SHIELD ever since the Tesseract debacle.

“And i thought I could… Throw myself back in, follow orders, serve…” He shook himself from his thoughts, smiling a little.

“It’s just not the same.” Peggy laughed, shaking her own head.

“You’re always  _ so _ dramatic!” She exclaimed making Steve laugh too.

“Look, you saved the world… We rather mucked it up.”

“You didn’t.” Steve was quick to respond.

“Knowing you helped found SHIELD is half the reason I stay.” He continued with a nod and Peggy raised a brow.

“And the other half has something to do with that wisp of an agent you brought with you last time.” Peggy nudged his hand making the blonde lower his head with a small grin. Josie and Peggy had gotten on almost too well for his liking, but he was glad the older woman had remembered her.

“Josephine is important to me. My first friend when I woke and now she’s…” Steve didn’t know how to finish, he wasn’t really sure  _ what _ she was to him anymore. At  _ least _ they were best friends, but his mind kept wandering back to the conversation they’d had months ago about dating, and how his chest had constricted slightly since then when he’d thought of her spending time with another man the way she did with him. It was even affecting the very few dates he’d tried to go on, he always found himself thinking about how Josie would like the food, or how she’d have reacted to the way the fairy lights reflected off the glassware, making the whole room sparkle. Peggy was looking at him sadly.

“You love her Steve, as a friend or more it doesn't _really_ _matter_. You love her and you shouldn’t let that go. Not for anything.” She reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze as she sighed.

“The world is changing, and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best, and sometimes the best we can do, is to start ove-” The older woman began cough, her eyes shutting as her small frame convulsed and Steve stood instantly reaching for the glass of water on the table nearby, sitting back down and offering it to her as her coughing lessened. Peggy looked at the water, a small smile on her face that transformed to shock when she looked up to see who was holding it.

“Steve…” She whispered, as if saying his name would make him disappear. The blonde affirmed and watched as she began crying.

“You’re alive! You… y-you came back!” She said, and took his hand when he offered it. Steve tried to smile, play along like the doctors had told him, but he couldn’t help the sadness that seeped over his features.

“Yeah Peggy…”

“It’s been so long… so long…” She weeped and Steve nodded, holding her hand a little tighter.

“Well I couldn’t leave my Best Girl. Not when she owes me a dance.”

 

Later, when he’d finally left Peggy’s room, he had excused himself to Home’s staff bathroom, leaving it ten minutes later with decidedly puffy features, his eyes red and his face damp.

 

\---

 

Josephine had a key to Steve’s apartment, and upon knocking on the door at two and finding that he wasn’t home yet, let herself in to see what he had food wise.

 

_ ‘Let myself in, should I put some of this frozen soup on for lunch?’ - J _

 

She shot off a quick text after looking in his fridge and freezer and discovering the large tub of vegetable soup, pulling it out to defrost a bit anyway. A knock sounded on the front door and Josie frowned, her first thought thinking it was Steve discarded when she remembered this was  _ his _ home. She made the short walk to the front door, ‘tsking’ at the lack of a peep hole and opening the door, revealing a pretty blonde woman dressed in nursing scrubs.

“Oh hi, Kate, right?” She asked, recognising the woman as Steve’s hall neighbour. The blonde nodded, offering out some tupperware.

“Yeah, sorry to bother you, I heard someone get home and remembered I’d borrowed these last week and never gave them back!” Josie took the containers, scoffing good-naturedly when she realised some of them were hers.

“No worries, I’m sure he hasn’t even noticed.” She smiled genuinely and bade the woman goodbye as she rushed off to work, closing the door behind her with a soft click, and making to put the boxes away. By the time she was done, she heard the front door opening and closing and Steve popped his head around the corner.

“Sorry I didn’t reply, was driving.” He said, making for the soup bowl and taking the lid off of it. Josie waved off his apology and handed him a large pot to put the soup into once it had defrosted in the microwave.

“Kate from next door returned your tupperware, by the way.” She said, eyes Steve for his reaction. More recently he had been on a few dates that hadn’t gone anywhere and between her and Nat it had become a bit of a joke to set him up, even if he always turned down their prospective dates.

“Oh? Great, I was starting to run out of things to put my leftovers in.” He replied and Josie raised her eyebrows. Apparently he  _ had _ noticed.

“She seems nice…” Josie pressed, smiling mischievously when Steve stopped what he was doing, looked up and then at her with a bland expression.

“Stop.”

“Stop what?”

“You know what.”

“Honestly I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She couldn't hold back her smirk, which gradually turned into laughter that Steve glared at.

“Oh come on Steve… I’m just trying to help. I want to see you happy!” The blonde went back to stirring the rapidly heating soup, shaking his head.

“I am happy. And I don’t have time for a girlfriend.”

“You have time for me.” Josie challenged, simply trying to point out how much time they had together, not necessarily encouraging him to cut it down.

“You’re different.” He replied and the brunette cocked her head.

“What does that mean?”

“It means I make time for you.”

Josie rolled her eyes, poking her tongue out at him when he wasn’t looking and pulled two bowls and a set of spoons from the cupboard as he began to dish up, their conversation neglected in favor of food.

They ate sitting across from one another as they usually would, Steve occasionally kicking her feet under the table, trying to bait her into one of their many foot wars. But Josie’s mind was somewhere else and she left the attacks unanswered as her mind wandered to the mission Pierce had given her.

“What would you say if i went away for awhile?” It was more of a statement than a question but she posed it as such anyway. Steve paused in eating for a moment, looking up at her through his long lashes.

“I would ask ‘why’ and ‘where’… So, why and where?” Josie sighed, placing her spoon down on the table next to her bowl and biting on the inside of her mouth.

“Pierce has given me the assignment to find, extract information from, and kill Mikhail Morozov.” Steve blinked a little, the surprise evident on his face. Josie hadn’t heard a peep from Morozov since Italy and he’d hoped the spy had backed off, finally leaving his friend alone, but it seemed SHIELD had other plans.

“I’d be gone until I found him… And I don’t know when that’ll be. It took me almost six months to get on his trail last time and that was only by sheer luck.” Steve nodded, seeing the appeal of the mission for her, but not really wanting her to go.

“You’ve accepted it, haven’t you?” He asked when she didn’t meet his eye after a moment and Josie sighed, tipping her head back slightly.

“There’s no one more qualified for it, if he picks up that I’m after him, it might draw him out… Hopefully it won’t be too long… maybe a couple of months…” Steve looked down at his bowl, leaning back in his chair. This wasn’t exactly how he’d thought today was going to go. It seemed to be bad news after bad news.

“I understand, he’s someone you need to settle with, and he’s someone that needs to be taken down. When do you leave?”

“Three hours ago.”

“I see.” They stared in silence for a moment before Josie reached out over the table extending a hand and watching as Steve gently placed his over it.

“I wanted to say goodbye, let you know. You’re important to me and i’m going to miss you while I’m gone.” Steve turned their hands over, giving hers a little squeeze.

“I’ll miss you too. I always do.” He smiled sadly, in a way that broke Josephine’s heart to see.

“I should probably get going… I already missed my original flight…” Steve seemed to snap out of it, putting on a brave face as they stood and he hugged her tightly, the last hug he’d be able to give her for god knows how long. She pulled away, her eyes a bit shiny as she grabbed her coat and he walked her out.

“Stay safe Jose…  _ Please _ call if you get into trouble…” Josie smiled sadly, reaching up and pulling him down for a kiss on the cheek, an action that once again made his heart constrict a little. But this time it didn’t necessarily feel bad.

“You  _ know _ I can’t. But thank you, I’ll see you soon.” She promised, and with that she was gone, leaving Steve rereading her file that evening, just to remind himself of how capable she was, and put his mind to rest that she would be alright and that she would come home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CA:WS has begun!
> 
> As stated, Josie is not in the main action for most of CA:WS and so i will be following her a small amount. if you have not seen the movie i highly recommend you watch it first as this part of the story may not make much sense as I will not be explaining some of the things that happen when Josie is not around :) ((And really, if you haven't seen Winter Soldier by now, what are you even doing?? :P))
> 
> Thanks again to everyone who reads and leaves comments or kudos <3 You really motivate me to keep pumping out chapters! <3
> 
> Thank you to Gee, Amy and Erin who always have an ear for my nonstop rambling <3


	13. CA:WS - 'Pedro's Barber Shop'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve gets an unexpected visit from Fury. Josephine gets an unexpected ally. Everything goes to shit in record time.

“Some stuff you leave there… Other stuff you bring back. It’s our job to figure out how to carry it, if it’s gonna be in a big suitcase, or a little man purse. It’s up to you.” Steve leant against the wall, listening to Sam Wilson finish up the group therapy session with an important lesson, one he chose to lock away and remember for later. He stood to the side as people began to stand, shaking each others hands and making their way out. Sam spotted him and nodded, saying goodbye to a couple of regulars before making his way to the sign in table, collecting the papers there and spying Steve walking toward him.

“Well look who it is, the Running Man.” He joked and the blonde shot him a smile, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Caught the last few minutes. Pretty intense…”

“Yeah brother, we all got the same problems. Guilt. Regret.” Sam looked off for a moment, but turned back to the other man, pain clear on his face.

“You lose someone?” Steve couldn’t help but ask, thankful when the VET opened up, instead of shutting down.

“My wingman, Riley. Flying a night mission, standard PJ rescue op. Nothing we hadn’t done a thousand times before. RPG knocked Riley dumbass outta the sky. Nothing i could do. Was like i was up there just to watch.” Steve lowered his head, knowing all too well how that felt.

“I’m sorry.”

“After that i had a really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?” Sam’s face darkened a little and the blonde nodded, understanding completely.

“But you’re happy now? Back in the world?” He probed, wanting to hear it from someone else.

“Well, the number of people giving me orders is down to about zero… So hell yeah.” The two men shared a smile, Sam crossing his arms over his chest.

“You thinking ‘bout getting out?” He asked and Steve scoffed.

“No.” He shook his head, thinking for a moment, his face relaxing and he shrugged a little.

“I don’t know… To be honest I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I did…” He thought about it for a moment, being pulled from his own thoughts by the other man’s voice.

“Ultimate fighting?” They both laughed at that at Steve made a note to remember to tell Josie when he next got the chance, she would have loved that.

“But seriously man, you could do whatever you want… What makes you happy?” Sam asked and Steve frowned. He knew a ‘who’ made him happy, but he couldn’t think of a single ‘what’ that wasn’t involved with what he was already doing. He looked back to Sam with a shrug and a thin lipped smile.

“I don’t know.”

 

\---

 

“Oh and I think you left your record player on!” Kate called back with a smile and Steve frowned. He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually used the player but he smiled, playing it off and thanking her. He watched her walk down the stairs, turning back to his door and listening closely. She was right, music wafted out from his player and Steve couldn’t help but glare. Someone had been, or was still in his apartment, and it couldn't have been Josie because he'd received confirmation that she’d landed safely in London hours ago. Making a plan quickly, Steve opened the latches on the hallway window, climbing out and easily scaling the side of the wall around to where his own hallway window was, easily maneuvering his way inside and grabbing SHIELD from where he’d left it lying against the kitchen wall. Sneaking along he peeked around the corner, the music far louder now and he frowned more, confused as to why Nick Fury was sat in his longer room in the dark, listening to his record player.

“I don't remember giving  _ you  _ a key.” Steve said, entirely displeased with the break in. Fury sat up a little straighter, raising an eyebrow.

“Do you really think I’d need one?” They stared at each other for a few moments before Fury leant forward even more, pulling his phone out and typing something.

“My wife kicked me out.” He said simultaneously and Steve couldn't tell if he was actually being serious or not, Josie had never mentioned anything about a Mrs Fury.

“I didn't know you were married…”

“There's a lot of things you don't know about me.” The blonde rolled his eyes, putting his guard down as he made his way to the light switch.

“I know Nick. That's the problem.” The light illuminated the room and Steve stood back, a shocked expression covering his face when he saw the state of Fury’s. The older man looked like a mess and before Steve could ask, he put a finger to his lips, turning off the lamp closest to him, and extended the phone.

_ ‘Ears Everywhere.’ _

It read and Steve’s face slowly turned to muted anger as he looked around his living room, now aware that someone had bugged his apartment.

“I’m sorry to have to do this, I had no place else to crash.” He turned the screen around again, revealing another message.

_ ‘SHIELD compromised’ _

“Who else knows about your wife?” The blonde asked slowly and the other man typed again.

“Just my friends…”

_ ‘You and me’ _

“Is that what we are?” Steve asked, a little annoyed and obviously not realising the gravity of the situation. Fury nodded, standing up.

“That's up to you-” he never finished his sentence, the wall behind him exploding in a hail of gunfire, Steve dropping immediately to the ground, grabbing Fury’s arm and dragging him back behind another wall, spotting the glinting metal of a gun through his living room window on the opposite rooftop. Steve knelt for a moment, gathering his thoughts as Fury held his hand out, a thumb drive between his fingers.

“Don't trust… anyone…” The blonde never got the chance to ask more because his door was suddenly kicked in, revealing his neighbour Kate, gun in hand, sweeping into the room and making a bee-like for Steve and Fury.

“Captain Rogers? Captain Rogers, I’m Agent 13 of SHIELD Special Service.”

“Kate?” Steve was thoroughly confused. Wouldn't he have known if a SHIELD agent was posing as his neighbour? Wouldn’t Josie have known? Unless she never told him. And it was the same with his apartment being bugged, unless she didn't know…

“I was assigned to protect you.” She stated and Steve glared, so many things coming to light that just served to piss him off.

“On whose order?” He demanded as she rounded the corner, seeing Director Fury bleeding out on his kitchen floor.

“His…” she immediately began searching for a pulse, pulling a radio from her shirt pocket when she couldn't find it and radioing in.

“Do you have a twenty on the shooter?” The radio asked back and Steve nodded, grabbing his SHIELD. He’d deal with this mess later.

“Tell them I’m in pursuit.”

 

\---

 

Josephine touched down in Brazil at midday and by evening had found a paper trail-less apartment and had begun to settle in, setting up security fittings on all of the doors and windows. The most recent intelligence SHIELD had on Morozov had said he’d been in South America and even if he had fled by now, it would be a good place to start and get her feelers out. Josie wasn’t going in dark this time, they had set up a false mission for her in London, even sent an agent there as a decoy. The sting was so convincing, SHIELD intel didn’t even know that she  _ wasn’t _ currently in Whitechapel taking on a dangerous drug lord with Chitauri technology, Fury and Pierce were the only ones in on it. Pulling out her files, detailed lists of banking transactions, verified sightings and assassinations attributed to Morozov, Josie got to work, learning everything there was to know about what he had been up to the past two years. He’d been very busy when he’d come out of his black out.

After many hours of pouring over the documents, Josephine sighed, stretching her arms and reaching for the coffee cup that sat next to her computer, picking it up and realising it was empty. She groaned, not wanting to go out at this time for another and placed it back down. She pushed open the computer she’d deemed necessary to bring with her and opened her encrypted SHIELD email server, beginning a new message, intent on sending Steve a quick hello. But she stopped herself. The least contact she had with anyone right now, the better. Josie stood, stretching again as she walked back and forth across the room, finally coming to a stop at the foot of the bed she’d briefly made up. Deciding that she had plenty of time to figure this all out, she quickly pulled her shoes off and climbed under the covers. A tired spy was almost worse than a dead spy, and almost certainly one would lead to the other.

She woke at about two in the morning, her computer making a nonstop ‘ding’ noise like it did when you pressed enter but nothing was selected. It scared her awake and she jumped up, racing toward the laptop and closing the lid far more harshly than she should have. Josie put her hands to her head, wiping her eyes and she sighed, turning to go back to the bed when something occurred to her. Why the hell had her perfectly fine laptop just started making noises? Narrowing her eyes at it, the brunette walked slowly back over to the desk, opening the lid and inspecting the screen. Her heart jumped into her throat at the words typed into the previously empty message box of the new email she hadn’t sent.

 

_ ‘Pedro’s barber shop. 8am.’ _

 

Josephine was horrified. She knew  _ exactly _ who this was and she wanted to know what the hell he was doing making contact with  _ her _ . This wasn’t how this was supposed to go, he was was meant to be on the run, not delivering himself into her hands in a basket all gift wrapped. And there was no way it was a trap, she’d never have fallen for something like this and he’d have known it, no this was something else entirely. Josie checked the locks on the doors and windows and turned the computer completely off. Something was wrong and she needed to find out what it was and quickly.

 

\---

 

Nat arrived at the hospital in record time, having already bullied the information from the dispatch, she made her way right into the operation waiting room, gasping a little when she saw the amount of blood they were dealing with.

“Is he going to be alright?”

“I don't know.”

“Does Josephine know?”

“She's uncontactable. I'm assuming she doesn't.” Steve looked to Natasha, they shared a look before focusing back on the surgery in progress.

“Tell me about the shooter.” She demanded and Steve exhaled.

“He was fast, and strong. Had a metal arm.” Maria Hill stepped forward then, having arrived when Fury had.

“Ballistics?”

“Three slugs, no rifling, completely untraceable.” Hill replied.

“Soviet made.” The red head leant forward against the glass when the beeping in the room began to intensify and the surgeons and doctors began rushing about, calling things to each other as they pulled the defibrillator out. Nat was whispering under her breath as they shocked him again and again, Steve eventually walking away when they stopped, the time of death being called and he stared down at the thumbdrive in his hands.

He stayed with Natasha as she said her final goodbyes, knowing that he'd have to find a way to contact Josie soon. She needed to know. Maria stepped into the room, her eyes shiny and her face puffy still from crying.

“We need to take him.” He voice was low and gravelly and Steve nodded, moving toward his friend.

“Natasha…” He didn't finish, he knew she’d heard Hill and she brushed past him out of the room, Steve following closely behind her.

“Natasha!” He called as she turned on her heal, her face showing almost no signs of her previous grieving.

“Why was Fury in your apartment?” She asked, making Steve fluster as he thought of an excuse. He couldn't and he shrugged.

“I don't know.” He shrugged, turning when Rumlow called to him.

“Cap! They want you back at SHIELD.”

“Okay. Give me a second.”

“They want you now.” Steve turned back to the man, a small glare on his face.

“Okay.” Nat fixed him with a sad grin.

“You’re a terrible liar.” Steve watched as she walked away, Fury’s dying words coming back to him and he wondered if that extended to Nat. He put his hands on his hips, eying the vending machine as an idea occurred to him. He’d have to be quick.

He joined Rumlow at the entrance to the ward, his pocket a little lighter than it had been before.

“Let's go.”

 

\---

 

It hadn’t taken Josephine long to find Pedro’s Barber shop. In the city there were a few, but only one opened near to 8am, and that was the one in south of Brasilia, a dinky little shop in a no-so-great part of town. She'd come dressed casually, but her body was littered with hidden weapons, not even giving him the chance of a passive meeting. She stood across the road in the shadows of an alleyway for almost an hour before it hit 8:10am and she crossed. She'd seen him through the windows, looking for all the world like he really was a barber; counting the till, sweeping the floor and wiping down the mirrors. She knocked loudly on the glass door he’d just cleaned, other hand in her pocket on her gun. He didn't seem surprised, he didn't even look up, just moved fluidly toward the door like it was his next planned movement. Josie stared at him through the glass as he unlocked the door. The moment it opened she pulled her fist back and socked him in the face, the man stumbling back slightly as she pushed past him into the shop.

“I  _ suppose _ I deserved that.” Mikhail Morozov’s English was excellent, the one thing movies always got wrong about Russian spies was their accents: they almost always sounded English or American.

“What the fuck do you want?” She rounded on him as he closed and locked the door, pulling the blinds down.

“To the point as always… Well, you must listen to me.” Josie didn't take her hand off her gun as she watched Morozov walk round the counter, coming back with a tablet.

“I was hired to kill you.”

“I know.”

“By someone  _ within _ SHIELD.” She hadn't known  _ that _ and Josephine paused for a moment, eyes following the spy as he made his way back to her. This was all too familiar, his demeanour and attitude as if he'd never abandoned her and their mission seven years ago.

“This was my dossier. I was to be a private contract for SHIELD, and I was. I carried out many successful missions.” Josie glared at the tablet, flicking through the screens. These were all under the table deals, things she’d never even known SHIELD were behind and yet, they all had the official documentation, the file numbers and sign offs.

“Why are you showing me all of this?”

“Because something is  _ wrong _ …” The taller man trailed off, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Believe what you will but I am not a bad guy. I am a spy and an assassin and I will work for whoever hires me, yes,  _ but _ I have morals. To a degree.” He added the last part at Josephine's raised eyebrow.

“I was approached last week by a deep cover agent. He told me I had been selected to be apart of the new SHIELD…” The brunette shut off the device, handing it back to the man in front of her and listening carefully. She was highly suspicious of Morozov, and wasn't sure she believed any of what he was saying, but whoever had given him this information was worth investigating.

“A new SHIELD lead by HYDRA.” Josie blinked, her mind going blank as she processed what he'd just said.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“HYDRA has infiltrated SHIELD and they came to me for membership. James I am not playing games with you, this is serious, even I have limits, and they end at Nazi organisations.” Mikhail lifted his shirt to reveal a bandaged middle, blood seeping through the white.

“I barely made it out alive and when they realised I got away, Pierce sent  _ you _ .”

“No... No! That makes no sense…” Josephine stepped back, an unbelieving half smile on her face that dropped when Morozov didn’t say any more.

“Alexander Pierce is not HYDRA!” She shook her head, taking another step away from him and pacing the room. The worst part of all of this is was that somewhere in the back of her mind, it  _ did _ make sense.

“Yes, he is. And with Nick Fury dead he can move forward with whatever hostile takeover he’s planning.” The brunette’s head shot up to him.

“What?”

“You... did not know…” Morozov realised, what seemed to be genuine sorrow written on his face as he looked down at his tablet, opening up another page which seemed to be an intelligence report from Russia. He knew how close they had been. Josie tore it from his hands, reading over the foreign language quickly, shaking her head, but pushing the emotions aside. However much she hated to admit it, Morozov seemed to be telling the truth, but she had to make sure, she had to contact someone she could trust and verify it.

“I need to talk to Maria Hill.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been really excited to write this chapter and even though it turned out shorter than i would have liked, I sat on it for a few days trying to get it right. I may come back and edit it a little later so be on the lookout haha.
> 
> Soooo....! there we have it! Some (maybe) surprising turn outs!  
> Thanks all for reading/commenting/kudo-ing! I love hearing what you have to say! And thank you to the influx of new subscribers! <3 Best!
> 
> Thanks to Gee, Erin and Amy, and when Conrad finally gets up to this he can kiss my ass :P


	14. CA:WS - 'Public Displays of Affection'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josephine returns to the US a double agent. Steve and Nat are on the run from SHIELD. Sam just kinda wants Josie to choke him out.

The moment Josephine hit the tarmac in Washington she was escorted straight to the Triskelion, and straight to Alexander Pierce’s office.

“I’m sorry you had to find out about Nick the way you did. Being pulled from a mission of any sort is frustrating… I can’t imagine what it must be like for you. I know he was like a family.” Pierce had begun when his assistant left the room after delivering coffees. The Secretary took a large sip, and Josie palmed hers, bring it to her lips but not tasting the liquid. She didn’t make a habit of accepting drinks from people she didn’t trust, but she knew a trick or two on how to fool the subconscious mind.

“I don’t know what to say really… I’m upset and I’m sorry he’s gone, but maybe at last he’ll take a break.” She spoke the words softly, aided by a sad smile that Pierce returned.

“I’m sure you know by now, but Captain Rogers was the last one to be see Nick alive… He broke into your friend’s apartment and thanks to our bugs we know he was talking in some kind of code.” Josie kept her face only mildly curious, a professional level of interest. She hadn’t actually known this information, but if she wanted to help Steve, she needed to tread carefully. Move the right pieces on the board.

“Yes, I requested the audio on the way here. I can’t make out what they could have been discussing. Whatever it was though was enough to get Fury killed and send Captain Rogers on the run.” She did know that Steve had been declared public enemy number one and wherever he was, Nat was probably with him by now. Josie didn’t trust a lot of people at SHIELD anymore, but Natasha Romanov was not one of them. Pierce nodded, standing from his desk and pacing alongside the floor to ceiling window wall behind him.

“Yes… He lied to me, to all of us, and now I want to know what he knows. I am aware of your… personal relationship with Captain Rogers, Agent. But I need to know if I can trust you. I need your loyalty.” Josephine fist pumped within her mind. This had been  _ exactly _ what she was hoping would happen.

“With all due respect Sir, spies don’t have ‘personal relationships’… Not good ones anyway. They only have means to ends and allegiances. And mine are with SHIELD. Mine have  _ always _ been to SHIELD.” She shifted in her seat, crossing a leg over the other and kept the eye contact when he turned to her, a small smirk on his face.

“Who do you think bugged his apartment in the first place?” Pierce sat back down at his desk, a thoughtful look on his features as he offered a hand out to her, which she gladly took, shaking it firmly.

“Then I will need your help to catch him.”

 

\---

 

Nat and Steve walked casually through the shopping mall, or as casually as Steve could managed under the circumstances. They’d just found a location worth investigating from the thumb drive Fury had given him and they were now trying to escape the mall without being caught by the Strike teams who were now in pursuit. Steve pulled out his phone, thumb hovering over a speed dial button before he shoved it back in his pocket with a grunt.

“Where is she?” Nat asked conversationally, side eyeing him so he’d know she knew exactly who he had wanted to call.

“I don’t know. London. She’s on a mission from Pierce, I need to warn her.” The frustration in his voice wasn’t hidden but he knew if he used his phone it could alert SHIELD to where they were. Nat had already removed the GPS but who knew what making a call would set in motion. She placed a hand on his arm as they stopped walking for a moment, getting on the escalator, the redhead looking at him with an uncomfortable expression, her lips spread into a thin line.

“Steve…” The man in question glared down at her and shook his head.

“No. No, there’s no way she’s in on all this. Josie is loyal to a fault. If Fury knew, then she knows. Hopefully.” He was angry that she would even consider Josie a double agent, but something in the back of his mind told him it was a reasonable concern, that they really couldn’t trust anyone now.

“Josephine isn’t part of this.” He emphasised each word and Nat rolled her eyes.

“And how long is it now that you’ve been in love with her?” She demanded, but it sounded more like an accusation, Steve’s glare intensifying.

“It’s not like that.”

“Yes it is, and you’re letting your feelings for her cloud your judgement.” The redhead breathed deeply, pulling Steve a little closer when she noticed Rumlow on the opposite escalator, going up.

“Steve, we don’t know who to trust. The Strike team, guy you fought with on countless missions are hunting us as we speak. I’m not saying Josie is definitely one of the bad guys, but we can’t cross it out either until we know for certain.” Steve pursed his lips but nodded slowly. Nat had a point, she knew how subterfuge and spy mastery worked, whereas betrayal and hidden agendas were mostly new to him. Generally speaking, he knew who the bad guys were, and they weren’t usually on his own team.

“Now quick, kiss me.”

“Wait what?”

“Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable.”

“... Yes, they do!”

“Kiss me!” Nat didn’t wait for him to respond, simply grabbing his jacket by the collar and pressing her mouth to his. Steve’s mind went blank for a few moments trying to figure out how their conversation had moved to this, but stopped when he found himself somewhat enjoying the experience. He hadn’t ever really been kissed properly, and even though this was some kind of a cover Nat had come up with and shouldn’t really be considered ‘proper’ either, Steve welcomed the touch, the intimacy something he desired as his mind began conjuring up images of Josie on the escalator with him instead, her hand pulling him by the jacket and-

Nat tugged herself away, turning as they hit the bottom of the steps.

“Are you still uncomfortable?” she asked and Steve cleared his throat.

“Very much so.” He frowned, following her and trying his hardest to push away the thoughts that had crept up on him, but the portrait of Josephine kissing him was burned on his brain.

~

“Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?” Nat was gazing at him with thinly veiled curiosity as they passed into New Jersey. Steve shifted uncomfortably.

“Nazi Germany. And we’re borrowing, take you feet off the dash.” He leant over, nudging her feet slightly with a  small grin and Nat hummed under her breath. She stared at him for a moment longer.

“Okay I have a question, which you do not have to answer by the way. But by not answering i feel like you’re kind of answering, you know?”

“What…?” Steve demanded with only a friendly amount of annoyance and he threw a look to the woman next to him who was wearing a cheeky grin.

“Was that your first kiss since 1945?”

“That bad huh?”

“I didn’t say that!”

“Well it kinda sounds like that’s what you’re saying.”

“No, I’m just wondering how much practise you’ve had…”

“What? Practise? There’s no need for practise.”

“Everybody needs to practise!”

“It was not my first kiss since 1945. I’m 95, I’m not dead.” Steve lied, but Nat let it go, side eying him.

“Josephine?” She enquired, pressing the issue, knowing for the fact he hadn’t made a move despite the rest of the world thinking they were practically married.

“No. Not Josephine. Just… someone else.” He replied with a slightly uncomfortable sigh and he tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

“Why not? I mean, it’s not like she wouldn’t want to…”

“Because we’re... I’m her friend, and I don’t want her thinking that me… I don’t want her thinking that’s the only reason we’re friends.” The redhead nodded. While she didn't agree, she could understand him, if only he’d see the way Josie looked at him like he was the sun. Steve sighed again and slowed the car to a stop as they arrived at their destination, the old SSR training grounds, Camp Lehigh.

 

\---

 

“The timetable has moved. Our window is limited. Two targets, level six. They already cost me Zola, I want confirmed death in 10 hours”

 

\---

 

Everything happened so quickly for Josephine after that meeting with Pierce. She didn’t go back to her own apartment that night, instead she skulked around the SHIELD HQ until she was called to help on a possible location with the Strike Team, arriving only to find the ruins of Camp Lehigh and a footprint. The next morning Pierce had called in an ’asset’, some assassin who was supposed to find Steve and Nat and while Josie was quietly perturbed that he can called upon an assassin, she knew that her friend could easily hold his own. And that’s how they found him. The ‘asset’ had caused quite the scene, a highway almost destroyed and the streets empty as people fled from SHIELD agents who had apparently been given the shoot to kill order. Steve, Nat and their new friend (Josephine had never seen him before, but he was obviously on their side) stood with their hands raised, knowing they were surrounded as piles of Strike Agents ran toward them, yelling for them to get on their knees and drop their weapons. Josie didn’t think she’d even forget the look of betrayal on Steve’s face when he spotted her with Rumlow and Rollins, gun raised as Rumlow cuffed him. Jack was holding his gun to the blonde’s head, ready to finish it here like they’d been told too, but Josie still had other plans.

“Wait. Put your gun down. Not here.” She said, approaching the two Strike commanders who seemed to be more than happy to spill Steve’s blood. She leant down, picking up the shield Steve had dropped when he’d surrendered, giving him a look she hoped he read as ‘let me explain.’ Rollins looked at her like she was crazy, but she only nodded toward the news helicopter that had appeared almost from nowhere.

“Not. Here.” She ground out, and looked over her shoulder to Nat, who was being ushered into the back of one of the vans along with the other guy. Rumlow grunted, but hauled Steve to his feet, and pushing him toward the same truck, Josie climbing in after their prisoners had been seated, turning to the commander before the door was locked.

“I’ll ride with them and keep an eye out.”

“Good plan.”

~

The start of their ride was uncomfortable to say the least, with Steve glaring at the ground in silence and avoiding Josephine’s gaze no matter what. There was only one other guard in the vehicle with them and the brunette was getting ready to put ‘her’ master plan into action.

“Steve…” She started and the blonde looked away from where she leant forward, almost visibly flinching.

“Don’t.” He said, the pure anger in his voice almost making her feel as if she really was guilty.

“I need you to listen to me.” She side eyed the other guard, not being able to read his facial expression die to the large riot helmet he wore was kind of annoying.

“I don’t need to hear anything from you right now.” He spat back and the look he gave her made her heart jump into her throat, but she exhaled, shaking it off and leaning back in her chair.

“Fine.” There was a moment where he stared at her, the anger in his eyes consuming his face until Josie couldn’t take it any more. She ripped the guards stun baton from his belt, whacking him with it in the chest, using the hand hold above her window to push herself foot-first into his head. He was unconscious before he even knew what had happened.

“Told you your girlfriend would save us.” Nat joked, making the prisoner Josephine didn't know look at her in mild awe and he turned quickly to Steve.

“ _ This _ is your girlfriend?!” he asked and Steve shook his head at him, a semi uncomfortable grin on Josie’s face.

“No you didn’t. And she’s not my girlfriend. Josephine James, meet Sam Wilson.” Steve seemed to be biting his lip, his anger forgotten in a warning look he shot to Natasha who shrugged as best she could. Josie cocked her head as Sam looked her up and down.

“So… You’re single then?”

 

\---

 

Maria Hill met them in an unidentifiable van at the agreed upon rendezvous point, ushering them all inside and quickly taking off. They arrived at the compound in less than 20 minutes, Steve and Josie helping Nat from the vehicle and moving her quickly inside the gates, her condition having worsened over the past half hour. A Doctor seemed to meet them, Maria calling out to him about the redhead’s injuries and he nodded, moving quickly.

“Let me have her, I’ll take a look.”

“I think she’ll want to see  _ him _ first.”

~

“Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver… One hell of a headache.”

“Don’t forget your collapsed lung.” Reminded Doctor Fine, who was now performing minor surgery on Natasha’s shoulder, attempting to clean up the blood and pull the bullet from the wound.

“Oh let's not forget that. But otherwise, I’m good.” Josie smirked a little, shaking her head at the thought of what a difficult patient Nick Fury would be.

“They cut you open, your heart stopped…” Nat insisted and Fury went on to explain the medication he’d used to slow his heart rate down enough to be declared dead, only the doctor in the room and Maria Hill had initially been in on it.

“Why all the secrecy, why not just tell us.” Steve frowned, looking from Fury to Maria to Josie and back again.

“Any attempt on the Director’s life had to look successful.”

“Can't kill him if he's already dead…” Josie chimed in morbidly, her lips pressed into a thin line.

“Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust…” the conversation faded out from there, Fine needing Nat to move into a different position to properly extract the bullet and so he ushered her to another room. Josie pulled on Steve’s sleeve, leading him through the rusty old compound to a room that had obviously been set up as sleeping quarters, a relatively clean looking basin in the corner.

“You look filthy.” She said, closing the door and grabbing a washing cloth from the sink, moving to wipe at the dirt on Steve’s face.

“Oh really? I showered this morning and everything.” He said making Josie laugh a little and he grabbed her wrist gently, forcing her to really look at him.

“I’m sorry for not trusting you.” His voice was barely above a whisper and the brunette shook her head.

“Don’t even worry about it. I know what it looked like, I'm just glad it was convincing.” She shrugged a little and breathed deeply as he moved his hand from her wrist, wrapping his arms around her in a tight squeeze, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

“I'm so glad you're alright.” Josie held him tightly, having sorely missed him the whole time she'd been away. She pulled back a little, arms still wrapped around him but far back enough that she could see his face.

“What about you? Are you okay?” The look on Steve’s face gave her her answer she moved away, directing him toward the bed against the far wall, sitting down beside him and holding tight to his hand.

“He looked right at me, and he didn't even know me…” Steve’s mind was obviously elsewhere and Josie frowned.

“Who Steve?”

“Bucky… the Winter Soldier.” He looked up at the wall and then down at his shoes again and something in her brain clicked. She had heard rumours of the Winter Soldier before, any spy worth their salt knew the stories, but she had no idea he was HYDRA connected. Or SHIELD. Or even real.

“The Asset…”

“Zola’s experimentation on him in ‘43. It must have… helped him survive the fall or…” Steve's theorising was working him into a bit of a state and Josephine squeezed his hand, moving closer so they were pressed up against each other.

“Steve none of that is your fault… if it is Bucky then…” He looked at her, unshed tears welling up in his eyes and it broke her heart.

“Then we’ll get him back. You and me.” He smiled sadly, his thumb beginning to rub back and forth on her hand and she brought it to her lips, giving it a quick kiss and she leant forward into his space.

“SHIELD’s gone to shit now anyway, once this is done with, we’re gonna find him and bring him home. Okay?” Steve nodded mutely, knowing right then and there as he looked at the determination in her eyes that he was conclusively, beyond any shadow of a doubt in love with her. He smiled.

“Okay.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! This one is kinda a bunch of shorter sequences mushed together, so sorry if you're not a fan of that haha! Hopefully now everyone's kinda back together we can have longer bits.
> 
> Thank you for subscribing, commenting and kudo-ing, its honestly so motivating for me to hear what ya'll think <3
> 
> Thanks to Gee, Erin and Amy (Im gonna start referring to you all as GAE), Ya'll give me life.


	15. CA:WS - 'The Golden Rule of Firefights'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve has no sense of self preservation, and Josephine wants to kill him for it.

“This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said ‘Peace wasn’t an achievement, it was a  _ responsibility _ .’” Fury was up and about, sitting at the table that had been set up as a work bench, staring at a picture of Pierce.

“See, it’s stuff like this, that gives me trust issues.” In any other moment, Josie would have laughed but instead she simply lowered her head. She was seated next to Nat who in turn was next to Maria, while Steve and Sam stood across from Fury, Steve directly behind his friend, leaning on her chair.

“We need to stop the launch.” Nat said, as if it weren’t already plainly obvious. Maria leant forward then, opening a briefcase that had been sitting on the desk, revealing three large computer chips. She went into detail about what needed to happen, how all three of the Helicarrier’s would need to be disrupted for anything to actually make a difference.

“We need to insert these server blades into the console and then maybe, just maybe we can salva-”

“We’re not salvaging  _ anything _ .” Josie cut him off, a deep glare on her face and Nick looked at her in muted shock.

“We’re not just taking down the carriers Nick, we’re taking down SHIELD.” Steve continued, pushing off the back of the brunettes chair and crossing his arms over his chest.

“SHIELD had nothing to do with this.”

“You gave me this mission! This is how it ends. SHIELD’s been compromised you said it yourself.” Josie piped up then, just as Fury was about to talk.

“HYDRA grew right under your nose and nobody noticed.” They weren’t giving him a choice in the matter. The pair had spoken extensively with Maria over the past few hours and they had all agreed.

“Why do you think we’re meeting in this cave? I  _ noticed _ .”

“How many people paid the price before you did?” There was an awkward pause as Fury sat back in his seat.

“Look, I didn’t know about Barnes…” He split his gaze between both Josie and Steve.

“Even if you had, would you have told me? Or would you have just compartmentalised that too?”

“SHIELD, HYDRA… It all goes, Nick.” Josephine said a little softer and Maria leant forward, a hand outstretched on Fury’s arm.

“They’re right.” She nodded at him, the emotion on her face far more convincing than her usual stoic look would have ever been. Fury looked around the table, from Maria to Josie to Natasha to Steve, finally his eyes landing on Sam who stepped back.

“Hey don’t look at me. I do whatever he does, only slower.” The small brunette cracked a smile at that and lowered her head, Nick leaning back again and folding his arm over his chest.

“Well, it looks like you’re giving the orders now, Cap.”

 

\---

 

“Of all the stupid,  _ stupid _ ideas you’ve ever had, and I  _ am _ counting the times you’ve jumped out of planes without parachutes, this is by far the cake topper, Steve.” Josie hissed at him through their ear pieces as she kept a lookout for guards from the smithsonian security center. The guard that had been assigned to watch the screen was safely deposited in the corner, and would wake up with only a minor headache and a bruise on the temple in about 20 minutes, which was more than enough time for them to do what they needed.

“Yeah, yeah, I know…” He whispered back, and she watched as he skilfully undressed the mannequin of himself, collecting all of the needed parts.

“Hurry, you’ve only got…” She looked at the watch on her wrist, before finding the patrolling guardsman on the fifth screen, doing the math on how long it would take him to circle back around to the Captain America exhibition

“... Less than 10 minutes.”

“Do you think I have time to just change into it here?” He asked after a moment and Josephine shrugged and made a face before remembering that he couldn’t see her.

“I don’t know! How long did it take you to put on?”

“... Yeah I have enough time. Don’t watch.” Steve told her and Josie scoffed.

“What do you mean ‘don’t watch’? I’m literally on lookout…”

“Well lookout somewhere else.” She sat back in the large chair and glared at the screen, watching him undress up until he started taking his pants off, at which point she looked away, her face turning slightly redder by the moment. Sure she’d seen him shirtless a few times before, but he was (unsurprisingly) pretty conservative, for a guy with his particular… body type. She couldn’t count on both hands the times she’d seen other similarly built male SHIELD employees shirtless around the gym, but then again nobody had quite the physique Steve did.

“Alright, done. Let’s get out of here. Meet you at the car.”

 

\---

 

“Attention all SHIELD agents. This is Steve Rogers… You’ve heard a lot about me over the last few days, some of you were even ordered to hunt me down, but I think it’s time you know the truth. SHIELD is not what we thought it was, it’s been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader, the Strike and Insight crew are as well, I don’t know how many more, but I know they’re in the building. They could be standing right next to you. And they almost have what they want; absolute control. They shot Nick Fury, and it won’t end there. If you launch those Helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone who stands in their way, unless we stop them. And I know I’m asking a lot, but the price of freedom is high, it always has been, but it’s a price I’m willing to pay. And if I’m the only one, then so be it... But I’m willing to bet that I’m not.” Sam stepped forward as Steve moved away from the microphone, Josie’s heart swelling with pride as she ran through the corridors of the Triskelion, listening to the speech.

“Did you write that down first, or was it off the top of your head?” She laughed at the other man’s joke over their connected ear pieces, knowing that when this was all over she was definitely buying him a beer.

“Jose, are you there yet?”

“Almost Cap-” She was cut off as someone tackled her from the side and she was pushed into the ground, Steve’s voice ringing in her ear as she grunted, kicking her attacker in the side of the head as he tried crawling away from her. A gunshot when off and the Strike agent fell still, Josie looking up in surprise as another Agent who had been in the hall stood, gun extended in her hand. She looked like she was part of the accounting team or something and she shoved her gun back in it’s holster, the two women staring at each other as Josie got to her feet.

“Agent James…” Josephine nodded a silent thank you, and began running again, easily making it to the control center without another hitch.

“Steve I’m here, but so is Rumlow.” She slowed her pace to a walk and had her gun ready in her hand as she entered the room, a few people turning to look, including Steve’s old neighbour Kate (or Agent 13 as he’d informed her later).

“Is there a problem?” Rumlow was yelling at the tech who seemed to be frozen in place, refusing to do what he was told.

“I-I’m sorry sir, I can’t do that… Captain’s orders.” He avoided the Commando’s eyes and the distraction was perfect for Josie as he hadn’t noticed her entrance. He whipped out his gun and put it to the technicians head.

“Move away from your station.” He commanded and Josephine aimed her’s for his, moving ever closer.

“Like he said Rumlow,” The Strike Commander’s face contorted when he turned his head to the side, seeing her there with her gun raised, many of the other agents in the room raising theirs in her defence too.

“Captain’s Orders.” Agent 13 had approached too and finished the brunette’s sentence, causing her to smile a little. Rumlow seemed to surrender, lowering his hand and dropping his gun to the floor, but just as quickly he grabbed the knife on is belt, spinning it up, cutting into Josie’s arm as he kicked Agent 13 in the side, the gun flying out of her hand. Josie immediately kicked the technician's chair out from underneath him as the room exploded into gunfire, the poor guy apparently never having learnt the golden rule of being unarmed in a firefight: Put your goddamn head down. The brunette reached for the kid’s shirt, wrenching him under the nearest desk.

“Stay here. Do not move.” She said firmly and the tech nodded, Josie now grabbing the gun Rumlow had dropped, as he’d grabbed hers when it had fallen from her now bleeding arm, firing off several shots at the agent who had just activated the Helicarrier’s while she’d been distracted, and was running out of the room. Josephine swore loudly, using every word she knew as she chased after him.

She made it to the air strip in one piece, having lost Rumlow somewhere along the way. The SHIELD pilots were organising themselves, getting ready for take off and Josie watched for a moment, looking up to the sky where she could faintly see Sam with his Falcon wings flying out of the Bravo Carrier, verbal confirmation from Maria sounding off in her ear not a moment later. She smiled, but it was quickly wiped form her face when an explosion went off near her, blowing her to the ground as the tarmac burst into flames around them. The Winter Soldier, came striding through, shooting off another grenade from his launcher and blowing up the nearest unscathed jet and the people around it. He quickly switched to his M15 when Josie began shooting at him, rolling to cover as he shot back, but only hitting the people around her and her yelled in frustration. He kept walking, seemingly ignoring her presence entirely as he continued to destroy the remaining jets and their pilots, all the while dodging her gun fire, only shooting back a few time to force her into cover. Having enough, and knowing his gun was out of ammo, Josie engaged him, running and using the cargo nearby as a step, jumping at him with all the force she could muster. He grabbed her tightly by the leg with his metal hand, pulling her off but she regained her balance, dodging his punch and throwing one of her own, a distraction he fell for as she kicked him harshly in the stomach, sending him tumbling back, but he rolled, glaring up at her with nothing but hatred in his eyes. He began running toward her then and Josie barely managed to block his blow, he was on the offence now and he was far better at it than defence. He hit her twice in the face with his robotic arm and she winced, trying to jump to the side but he kicked her squarely in the chest, sending her flying backwards, landing unceremoniously on the ground in a heap. She couldn’t move for a second, certain that at least two of her ribs were broken and she groaned out as he strode toward her, picking her up by her throat and pulling his arm back, getting ready to cave her head in.

“Bucky… Stop…!” She managed to get out, clawing at his metal arm and something in his eyes changed, the fist around her throat stopped squeezing, eventually dropping her and she fell to her knees. He stared down at her for a moment as she wheezed, face bleeding, and he hesitated but walked away, running toward the nearest jet and shooting the pilot inside, ripping the door off and climbing inside flying away as quickly as he’d come. Josie managed to get to her feet, putting a finger to her ear.

“Steve, Sam, The Winter… Bucky’s coming for you…” She coughed, the use of her recently closed windpipe causing too much strain on her throat and making her voice sound like sandpaper.

“Josie, are you alrigh-” Steve never finished his sentence and the brunette figured the assassin had found them and she cursed, putting a hand up to shield her eyes as she gazed up into the distance at the last Helicarrier, gasping when she saw a small speck begin falling, and getting closer and closer as he fell toward the tarmac. Sam pulled his emergency parachute just in time, landing less than five hundred meters from Josie. She ran toward him as he got to his feet. She could hear him and Steve talking over the comms.

“You and Josie find Fury, I’ve got this.”

“Wait, Falcon, Rumlow’s headed for the council!” Maria’s voice cut in and Josephine quickly reloaded her gun, nodding toward the other man when he eyed her.

“James and I are on it.” He replied and the pair began running, making their way easily inside the building, finding the stairs quickly and climbing them three at a time. They managed to get ahead of the Commander, Maria’s instruction and watchful eye allowing them to avoid him and hide, getting the drop on him as he entered the next necessary bullpen that would allow him to get to the stairwell they had just come from. Sam attacked first, but was quickly knocked to the ground with a crack to the head, Josephine blindsiding him, coming at him from the other side as he moved to finish sam off, with his gun, kicking it from his hands and standing between him and her new friend.

“Agent James you should have just stayed in London.” Rumlow told her, ripping off his vest.

“Jokes on you asshole, I was in Brazil.”

“This is gonna hurt. There are no prisoners with HYDRA. Just order. And order comes through pain. Are you ready for yours?” Sam was stood beside her now, hand on his bleeding forehead.

“Man shut the hell up.” Rumlow grinned, racing toward them and attacking, but he couldn’t take them both at once, so he punched Sam in the head again, knowing he was still slightly dizzied from the head-butt and went for Josephine, who easily blocked all of his blows, twisting his arm behind his back and kicking the backs of his knees in. The HYDRA agent quickly recovered, throwing himself at her and knocking her back, punching her already bleeding face until Sam pulled him off of her. The pair traded blows and Josie wiped the blood from her eyes as it seeped down her face, stopping when she heard the confirmation from Steve that he’d successfully implanted the last chip and she breathed a sigh of relief, until his voice came over the radio again.

“Fire now.” Maria blanched, about to protest but Josie beat her to it.

“Steve are you clear?”

“No I’m not. Fire anyway.”

“But Stev-”

“Dot it! Fire now!” He yelled and Josephine swallowed thickly as Maria quietly confirmed. Outside she could see the Helicarriers begin to shoot at each other and the brunette felt tears prickle her eyes, until Rumlow threw Sam aside and came for her, grabbing her by the collar and retching her up. He hadn’t expected her to punch him in the face, fist frozen solid in a block of ice as she vaulted off of his legs and away from him. She was about to run at him again when she noticed the Hellicarrier uncomfortably close to the window and not stopping.

“James…!” Sam called as he got to his feet.

“Yeah, I know, run!” She yelled back as the falling ship broke through the glass, crashing into the side of the Triskelion. The pair ran, not exactly sure of their destination until Natasha called them over the comm link.

“Guys where are you?!”

“41st floor!”

“Stay where you are!”

“Not an option!” They both screamed, Josie grabbing Sam’s hand as they barrelled through the glass window and into the open air, free falling for a moment, before they saw the chopper, tilting on it’s side and ready to catch them. Sam fell in first, landing on the opposite door and breaking through it while Josie grabbed onto the first thing she could, freezing her hand to it and watching relieved as Natasha pulled him back inside and the plane was set to it’s right degree.

“41st floor, man!” Sam shouted at Fury, Josie only sighing in relief, glad that he hadn’t fallen further.

“Maria, do you have a location on Steve!?” She called into her headpiece receiving a quiet ‘no’ in return and she looked around at the others in panic.

“Hill, we need a location on Steve  _ now! _ ” Josephine yelled again.

“I’m- I don’t know! He’s not responding!”

“Find him Maria!”

“No, Hill, get out of there before you get crushed. Josephine, calm down, we need to get out of here!” Fury’s voice came over the radio and the small brunette breathed deeply, her emotions all surfacing as anger. Sam shook his head and reached out for her hand, the pair watching in muted horror as the last Helicarrier began exploding, crashing further into the tower before finally landing in the Potomac. Tears fell down her face as she watched, eventually looking away, Sam moving to hold her as she buried her face in his shoulder, body silently shaking as she clung to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes...... Oh, don't act worried, you know he survives! ;)
> 
> Thanks for reading guys! <3  
> I super appreciated any feedback ya'll have left <3 it means the world :)
> 
> Thanks to GAE + Conrad <3


	16. Aftermath 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve recovers in the hospital. Josie and Nat tell Congress where to stick it.

When they had found Steve several hours later on the bank of the Potomac, water in his lungs and miraculously still alive, he’d been rushed to the ER for immediate surgery. Josephine had stayed by his bedside in the hospital for days, only leaving when Sam came, convincing her she needed to clean off the blood on her face and get something to eat. She’d cried in the shower at her home, for the last time she told herself, and got dressed quickly in some sweats not really caring about her appearance as she drove as fast as legally possible back to the hospital. Josie tried to keep from running when she arrived, forcing herself to walk slowly through the halls, punching the button on the elevator and waiting for it to deliver her to Steve’s floor. When she neared the room, Josie immediately noticed something was different. For one thing, Sam seemed to be talking to someone and the thought of Steve being awake made her quicken her pace, almost crashing into a nurse on the way, apologising quickly before opening the door, both Sam and Steve turning to look at her as she entered, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape.

“Your face looks like hell.” The bed bound Steve called to her softly and Josephine stared for a moment before laughing, almost manically as he rehashed his words to her from two years ago. She made directly for him, leaning down as he opened his arms for a tight hug and she was careful not to jostle him about too much and to not visibly flinch when he squeezed her still healing ribs a little too hard.

“I’ll let you two talk…” Sam said, completely ignored as he left the room, Josie grabbing the nearest chair and scooting up.

“Steve… I’m so glad you’re…” She couldn’t even finish her sentence, bursting into tears for what felt like the tenth time in two days and Steve grabbed her hand, cooing her softly.

“Shh, Jose it’s okay… I’m okay…” He rubbed his thumb gently along her hand and she wiped at her face.

“You’re not though Steve! You were shot four times! You almost drowned! I can’t-” She cut herself off, shaking her head as more tears spilled down her face and Steve shushed her again.

“You almost died! I almost died!” Steve’s brow furrowed and he sat up a little, a frown on his face.

“What do you mean, Sam said you were a bit banged up from Rumlow, he never sai-”

“I fought Bucky, on the airstrip. He was killing pilots trying to help you and I engaged him…” She sniffed a little, Steve’s grip on her hand tightening. Bucky had damn near killed him, he couldn’t imagine what he would have done to Josephine.

“He ignored me mostly actually, until I kicked him…” She lifted her neck, revealing to him the intense bruising on her throat, in the distinct shape of a hand print.

“He almost choked me to death but I… He stopped… I don’t know why…” She spoke quietly, putting her head down and staring at Steve who was looking at her intensely. Part of him was angry, she shouldn’t have fought him she could have  _ died _ , but another part of him, the dominant part knew that she was only doing what she saw was right, and that’s all he would have asked of any of them that day. He squeezed her hand.

“I’m glad you’re okay…”

“I’m glad we’re  _ both _ okay.” Josie looked down at her lap for a moment, wiping her face subtly with the sleeve of her sweater.

“Is he…?”

“He's alive. H-he was the one who pulled me from the river…” Steve's voice was quiet as their eyes met and Josephine smiled tightly. There was some amount of hope for him.

“SHIELD’s completely gone now, Natasha has been called to Capitol Hill tomorrow morning and I’m going with her… but when that’s over I still have some contacts left, and with HYDRA’s file base all on the internet… well we should be able to find some good lea-”

“Stop that.” Steve cut her off unexpectedly and Josie looked up at him in surprise.

“Stop what?”

“When you get upset, you start talking about work, or something else… Stop. Let yourself be sad. No one’s going to be mad at you for that, least of all me.” Josephine sniffed again, muffling a laugh as she put her head in her hands, elbows leaning on the side of his bed he always could read her well.

“No offence Steve but I've been sad for the past two days… I’m kind of ready to move on.” She smiled as he shook his head, but squeezed her hand again, moving it a little more toward himself.

“Well, you know that you don't need to pretend to be alright for my sake…”

“You see through it anyway.”

“Yes I do…” They grinned at each other for a moment, as well as either of them could with their cut lips and bruised faces.

“Hey Jose I wanted to-” Steve’s heart was in his throats as he began talking but the door swung open cutting him off as his nurse stepped inside.

“Captain Rogers, it's time we change some of those bandages… Miss James if you could step out for a moment, Doctor Hernandez would like a word.” Josie nodded mutely, turning back to Steve as she stood, and she patted him gently on the shoulder, making her way out of the room. Walking to the ward desk, she easily spotted the doctor who had been attending to Steve since he'd been brought in and she finished off her conversation with another nurse and turned to Josephine, grabbing a clipboard from the table in front of her.

“Miss James, Captain Rogers’ enhanced healing is… it's simply incredible, we think by tomorrow afternoon he should be in shape to continue his healing process at home, as long as you are willing to help change his bandages and the such.” Josie nodded at the doctor, taking the pen and clipboard, quickly going over the information and signing at the bottom.

“That's great!” Hernandez smiled, taking back the papers and looking them over quickly before nodding affirmation.

“Not a problem, Miss James. Now usually I would have a nurse show you the proper way to… well considering your work background I don't think it's necessary.” Josephine nodded, a sly grin on her face. The amount of home nursing she'd done on herself and the medical knowledge she'd garnered over the years, she could probably go into the medical profession, in fact she  _ had _ on many undercover operations. The doctor thanked her again and left, leaving Josie standing around the hallway, peering over to Steve’s door occasionally to see it still closed and finally taking a seat in a nearby set of chairs. She breathed deeply. With SHIELD gone now, she had no idea what she was going to do, she could probably allow herself to be snatched up by the CIA or the FBI, but truly she wasn't sure if she wanted to do this anymore, work for someone else and do whatever she was told. In recent years she'd learnt there was far more merit in questioning things instead of blindly following orders. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and Josie frowned, not remembering it was even there, or on for that matter.

 

_ ‘Congratulations.’ -M _

 

The brunette rolled her eyes. News of SHIELD’s collapse would have been all over the media the past few days.

 

_ ‘Go away. How did you even get this number?’ -J _

 

She shot back the text message, a new one appearing just as quickly.

 

_ ‘Do you want me to go away or do you want me to tell you? Am confused. Please clarify.’ -M _

 

_ ‘Eat a dick.’ -J _

 

Josie shut off her phone with a shake of her head. The only reason she'd left Morozov standing in Brazil was because she had bigger fish to fry, she  _ had _ done him the favour however, of reporting that she’d killed him. He had saved her life by warning her about Pierce and HYDRA and she guessed she owed him that at least. She watched as Steve’s nurse left his room and stood, making her way back inside as Steve was adjusting his hospital gown, still standing. Josie whistled.

“All dressed up and looking pretty for me?” She joked making Steve roll his eyes as he sat back on the edge of the bed.

“Ha ha ha. Very funny.”

“No I'm being serious, it's like hospital gowns are the new lingerie!”

“ _ Why _ would you want to see me in lingerie?” He asked, mostly amused but somewhat confused… he didn't think  _ men _ wore lingerie… Josie cocked her head with a small smirk, pouring some water from the nearby pitcher, handing the glass to Steve which he gladly accepted.

“It's a kink for some I guess.”

“A kink?” Josie paused, slightly choking on her own water, placing it down and wiping at the spillage on her sweater.

“Ah… Never mind. I’ll tell you when you're older.” She said conspiratorially and the blonde simply shook his head, adjusting his bed so it sat upright.

“The Doctor said you’ll be able to go home tomorrow, but from what Nat told me your place is pretty… you have a large unfixed hole in your wall. And I’m fairly certain you’re gonna be evicted.” She said only half joking.

“So you can stay at mine until you're a bit better. And the hole gets fixed. Or you find a new place.” Steve was about to protest, he’d always complained about the small size of her apartment but she held up a hand.

“We literally have nowhere else, so suck it up.” They sat in silence for most of the afternoon, contemplating what the future would bring now that SHIELD wasn’t an option for either of them.

 

The next morning Josephine accompanied Natasha to Congress where they answered any questions that were posed to them. Well, Natasha answered the questions and Josephine kept her mouth shut, intimidated by the amount of cameras and media there were in the room. She hadn’t realised that this would now mean her identity would be made public, that people would know who she was. She hadn’t been overly keen on Nat’s ‘mic drop’ either, effectively telling Congress to screw themselves as they walked out, cameras flashing and News personalities asking for comments. As they’d gotten into Nat’s car, Sam had texted her, letting her know that he’d signed Steve out and they were on their way to the rendezvous point now, that being Nick’s grave.

“You go ahead, I need to call someone first.” The redhead had told her with a smile as they pulled up to the cemetery, Josie climbing out and easily spotting the three neutrally dressed men in the middle of all the greenery. Sam spotted her first, his wave causing Steve to turn and he walked toward her, closing the distance between them with a tight hug.

“How did you go?” He asked, pulling back and Josephine shrugged making a face.

“Well, Nat told them they could go fuck themselves if they really thought they were gonna put us in prison, and now my name is household so… Not so great, but ask Nat, you’ll probably get a different answer.” She grinned, knowing that overall the meeting  _ had _ been a success. Over Steve’s shoulder Josie nodded at Fury and they rejoined the other them.

“We’ve been data mining HYDRA’s files. Looks like a lot of wrecks didn’t go down with the ship.” Josie looked up at Steve and they shared a brief look.

“I’m heading out tonight, wanted to ask if you wanted to come?” Fury’s hands were shoved in his pocket and he shifted from foot to foot.

“No, there’s something I gotta  do first.” Steve replied and Nick turned to Sam.

“What about you Wilson? Could use someone with your abilities.”

“I’m more of a soldier than a spy…”

“And I’m not either of those things anymore.” Josie told him firmly when he looked to her and he nodded, exhaling.

“Alright then.” They all shook his hand and he pointed toward the grave as he walked away.

“If anyone asks for me, tell them they can find me right here.”

“You should be honoured, that’s about as close as he gets to a thank you!” Nat said, as she approached, shoving her phone into her pocket. Steve walked over to meet here, gently implying that he wanted to discuss something private with her and Sam and Josie stayed back, looking down at the flowers piled up on Nick’s ‘grave’.

“You really care for him don’t you?” Sam asked with a soft grin and Josephine turned to him, a confused smile on her face.

“Of course, he’s my best friend… I honestly can’t remember what life was like before him.” She said pushing some of her curls back behind her ear. Her hair was getting long now and would need to be cut soon, as she just never had time for it. Sam laughed a little, lowering his head and shoving his hands in his pockets.

“You know what happened the last time i heard someone say that about their best friend?”

“What?”

“Well… They’ve been married for 12 years now.” Josie laughed, shaking her head.

“It’s not like that…” She chuckled when Sam rolled his eyes

~

“Not going with him?” Steve asked as he sidled up to Natasha who shook her head with a sly grin.

“No… I blew all my covers, I gotta go figure out a new one.”

“That may take a while…”

“I’m counting on it.” They shared a smile for a moment and Nat chewed on the inside of her lip, pulling the file that was under her arm.

“That thing you asked for, I pulled in a few favor from Kiev…” She handed it over, The bold Russian lettering on the front and on the inside pages told Steve he’d need to get Josie to translate it.

“Can I ask you a favor?” Steve looked back up at the redhead who was fixing him with a look he couldn’t quite place.

“Tell Josie.” The blonde smiled, scrunching his nose as he looked down.

“I… don’t think I’m ready for that yet…”

“I think you’ll keep telling yourself that no matter what. One of these days it’ll be too late…”

“We  _ both _ know timing isn’t my strong suit.”

“Then just tell her. You won’t regret it.” Nat smiled, stepping forward and giving him a one armed hug and a kiss to the cheek. She walked away, calling back one last warning before leaving, getting in her car and driving off. Josie walked over, looking down at the file in his hands, brain quickly translating the cyrillic words and she breathed in deeply.

“You’re going after him, huh?” Sam asked after a moment.

“You don’t have to come with us.” Steve didn’t look up, staring only at the picture of Bucky that was clipped inside the cover.

“I know. When do we start?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Captain America: Winter Soldier, done!
> 
> Thank you for reading thus far! <3
> 
> Thank you for your comments, kudos and subscribes! I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as I enjoyed writing it! I will be taking a small break and should move into a more scheduled update style, with at least one chapter per week :)
> 
> Thank you to GAE <3


	17. Age Of Ultron - At Long Last (The Author Returns)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avenger's take on Strucker as Josie ponders the real, hard questions: Is she more Elsa? Or Sub-Zero?

“Shit!”

“Language!”

Josephine James rolled her eyes, shooting out the closest enemy and ducking as Thor’s hammer came flying toward her head, passing over her and doing some serious damage to the guy who had been trying to sneak up behind her. She stood, nodding toward the demi-god in appreciation when Mjolnir had flown back into his hand.

“Jarvis, what’s the view from upstairs?”

“The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker’s technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we’ve taken.” JARVIS’ accented voice came through all their ear pieces, and Josie was about to speak up, mention that the security was so high because Loki’s scepter was here, but Thor beat her to it.

“The sceptre must be here. Strucker couldn’t mount this defense without it!” Josie pounced on one of the HYDRA soldiers who hadn’t seen her, quickly taking him down and choking him out, using the scarf around his neck as extra leverage.

“At long last…” Thor finished up with a group of men who’d attacked him looking toward where the short brunette was getting to her feet, dusting off her suit, and running toward where she could see another, fresh group of soldiers running into the field.

“At long last is lasting a little long, boys…”

“Yeah, I think we lost the element of surprise.” Clint’s voice cracked over the radio just as a bunker went up in flames.

“Wait a second, no one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said ‘language’?” Tony questioned making Josie snicker as she grabbed the large gun of a recently fallen man, using it to take out a group shooting at her not too far off.

“I know, I know! It just… slipped out…” Steve sounded embarrassed, and the brunette watched as he rode into view, flipping over the top of his motorbike and using the momentum to throw it at another bunker.

“In Steve’s defense, in all five or so years of knowing me, he hasn’t said it once.” Josie piped up, running toward where her friend stood, the pair both hiding behind his shield as one of the newly deployed tanks took a shot at them.

“Shall we?” He made a ‘ladies first’ gesture and the brunette sped toward the tank, quickly ascending it’s outer levels and freezing closed the turret’s barrel, jumping off quickly when the operator fired again, effectively blowing themselves up as Josie tumbled to the ground, landing roughly and rolling. Steve was making his way toward her when something sped past him, knocking out his feet from under him. He landed on his feet, shield raised in preparation for another attack as Natasha called out to Clint who’d been shot not too far from them.

“We have an enhanced in the field. Stark, we really need to get inside!” Josephine ran toward where she could see Nat kneeling over Barton, sliding to her knees next to him as she arrived, quickly placing hands on his torn open side, sealing the wound with ice so as not to infect it or have him bleed out.

“Clint’s hit pretty bad guys, we’re gonna need an evac.” Nat radioed in and they could hear some idle chatter between Thor and Steve before a loud explosion sounded and not a moment later Thor landed nearby, gently picking up the injured man and flying him away, presumably toward the jet. Nat and Josie shrugged at one another, Natasha immediately making for the direction the quinjet had been left as the small brunette placed a finger to her ear.

“Cap, Thor, Clint and Nat are all headed for home, am I needed or should I evac as well?” a moment later the blonde’s crackling voice came over the radio.

“I’ve got Strucker, you head back to the jet, Tony and I will handle it from here. And be careful, there’s two enhanced out there. Avoid unless absolutely necessary.”

“Yes sir.” She replied, turning and running to catch up with Natasha.

 

\---

 

“Everyone set to go?” Tony called to the rest of the team who were making themselves comfortable for the flight back home, receiving several affirmations as he gently began the quinjet’s ascent. Josie shivered a bit, zipping up the jacket she wore all the way to the top and pulling on the pair of gloves she'd packed in her duffle, nodding to Tony as he got up from the pilot's chair, handing the wheel over to JARVIS. She probably looked ridiculous, but everyone had their own post-mission traditions; Bruce was sitting listening to classical music, Nat was fussing over Clint (which granted he had been shot so was forgoing his usual activities) and Tony, Steve and Thor were discussing Loki’s sceptre.

“Thor, status on the Hulk?” Natasha had moved to Bruce's side, calling out to the Demi-God who was now fumbling over his words, obviously having mistook the situation. Bruce groaned and dropped his head into his hands. Josie bit her lip trying not to laugh, and caught eyes with Steve over Thor’s shoulder grinning at each other before the blonde jerked his head toward the weapons hold. She sighed, rather comfortable where she was, but figured putting her guns away now would save her doing it when they got home and the exhaustion had really kicked in. And apparently Steve wanted to talk with her. Pushing up from the co-pilot's seat Josie made her way to the back left side of the hold where Steve stood with his back to her, taking his gloves off and looking over the ammunition that was left. Josie stood beside him, making quick work of her guns, reloading them, putting the safety on, and placing them back in their respective spots.

“You going to come to Tony’s party?” Steve asked after a few moments of silence, side eying his friend as she pursued her lips.

“I don't know… Parties aren't really my thing.” The idea made her stomach churn. If it were just a casual drinks night with the gang she'd have had no problems, but from what she could tell, there were all sorts of people on Tony’s guest list and ever since people started recognising her by face and name, her anxiety in crowds had skyrocketed. Without realising it, Josie had paused in her movements, hands shaking slightly as her mind went into a minor panic thinking of all the terrible situations that could result from her going to the party. A hand gently placed itself over hers, her eyes looking up to find a concerned expression covering Steve’s face and she resisted the urge to just hug him.

“Sam’s flying in, we could all just get dinner instead?” She smiled reassuringly, turning her hand over to hold his properly.

“It’ll be fine. I think Tony would have a tantrum if I didn't come.” They both turned and looked over their shoulders at Tony and Nat who were both pretending to not be watching them, and they snickered quietly.

Tony had been annoying her nonstop about Cap’s ‘googly’ eyes lately, he'd even tried to get her to confess her apparent feelings for him, causing her to try and avoid the billionaire at all costs. It wasn’t that Josie  _ didn't _ have feelings for Steve, she just sure that he’d never return them. Their close friendship made it easier for her to ignore any effects of her crush, but that didn't mean she didn't occasionally stop and think about what it would be like if he  _ did _ reciprocate. Josie looked up at where Steve was still shaking his head, laughter still on his lips and she bumped him with her hip.

“Besides, you need arm candy, right?” Steve raised an eyebrow at her joke, enjoying the idea of her hanging on to his arm all night way too much.

“Ooh maybe I can ask Sam to bring his USO girl outfit along! We can choreograph the song and everything!” She started humming ‘the star spangled man’ bursting into laughter when the spangled man in question poked her in the side, Josie practically weeping at the memory of last Halloween where she and Sam had coordinated outfits to go as Cap and a USO girl. The veteran had pulled off the extremely tight sparkled dress better than anyone she’d seen. Steve turned to walk away, pointing at her with mock seriousness.

“Ha ha ha. Really, you're hilarious.” Thor who had been watching the whole last part of the conversation clapped his hands with a large smile.

“Then we will be joined by all of the Avengers! Fantastic!” Josie smiled genuinely, if not a little tightly. She'd never wanted to be an Avenger, even way back when she’d first met Tony, approaching him on behalf of Fury for the Initiative. At the time she had also been on the initial list of volunteered applicants but she'd refused to actually join. Nowadays however she was a staple of the team, Tony informing her that the Internet loved her which meant she was in the green apparently. The billionaire had set her up with a twitter account to ‘fill her days’, which she’d taken to immediately with pictures of dogs she and Steve saw at the dog park, becoming extremely popular overnight not realising the content was open to the public. She'd found the attention a little overwhelming, if not annoying at times, with people comparing her to all kinds of characters, from Elsa to Sub-Zero, the later of which she wasn't  _ actually _ too bothered about. Sighing, Josie ran a hand over her newly buzzed hair, enjoying the feel of the spiky crop on the palm of her hand. She’d asked Nat to cut it for her after she and Steve had moved into Stark Tower, and after some initial hesitation about the length to go, Josephine had given creative control to the redhead a choice she hadn’t come to regret, the closely cropped style looking far better than anything she’d have thought of.

Upon landing the quinjet at the top of the tower, Bruce and Nat unloaded Clint, delivering him into the waiting hands of Doctor Helen Cho, running him quickly into Bruce’s lab where the Doctor had set up her portable version of a machine she called ‘the cradle’.

“Lab’s all set up boss.” Maria Hill called as she stepped into the back of the jet, causing Tony to whip around, pointing toward Steve.

“Oh uh, actually he’s the boss. I just pay for everything. And design everything. And make everyone look cooler.” The blonde exchanged a look with Josie who was rolling her eyes, practically dragging herself off the plane as the lethargy began setting in. She’d made it all the way to the elevators before Steve and Hill caught up, talking about the two enhanced they had encountered earlier. She held the lift as Steve finished his conversation.

“File says they volunteered for Strucker’s experiments… Crazy.” Josie held back a grin at the look that Steve gave Maria as he stepped into the lift.

“Right… What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?” The small brunette was all out snickering now, hand covering her face as Hill gave her a look.

“We’re not at war Captain.”

“They are.” The doors closed and Josie finally burst out laughing, throwing her head back and leaning heavily on the wall.

“Didn’t think it was that funny…” Steve said after a moment, with a raised eyebrow and Josie waved him off as she sobered.

“It isn’t, I’m just- I’m really tired… We’ve been awake since like, 3am.” She yawned, hardly having the energy to put a hand over her mouth.

“It’s only 10… you’ve been awake for 5 hours…” He looked at her unimpressed as the elevator stopped, opening up to the floor that her rooms were on. She gave him a wave.

“Fighting takes it out of you. I’ll see you a bit later.” Steve shot her a smile as the doors closed. His little apartment was only the floor above hers, there being three fully functioning homes per floor on the upper four levels of the tower, the shared living areas, training rooms and labs being the lowest before the actual Stark Industries offices and labs below. It was spacious and cozy at the same time, Josie found great comfort in knowing that she was surrounded by friends (and she could say that now, she had  _ friends _ ) but that she didn’t necessarily have to see them 24/7. She shared a floor with Thor and Bruce, not seeing too much of the later, but often hanging around Thor. He hadn’t fully learnt the meaning of ‘personal space’ and she’d often wake in the morning to find him eating a hearty breakfast in her kitchen (most of the time with food that she hadn’t even known was in her fridge). He was always polite enough to make her some as well, and Josie didn’t mind too much. He was good company and she thought he was probably just a bit lonely, used to being around people all the time. She’d actually become very close with the demi-god and was excited for him to show her around Asgard one day and introduce her to the Warriors Three, like he’d promised her. She and Steve still spent most of their time together, Josie considered him to be her best friend, but they had both extended their circles of friendship. Steve spent quite a few drinking nights with Clint when he was around, the agent not living at the Tower on a full time basis, coming and going between missions as he pleased.

Josie stretched her arms above her head as she got in her front door, dropping her bag on the couch closest to her and collapsing on the other. She breathed deeply for a moment, a yawn escaping her mouth and she pulled herself from the sofa, knowing that if she didn’t shower now, she’d probably forget to later and be gross the whole day. Dragging herself to her bedroom, the brunette stripped off her suit(s), leaving them on the floor as she grabbed her towel and her largest sweater, turning the tap on as hot as it would go and immersing herself under the steaming hail of water.

She wasn't actually sure how much time had passed when she opened her eyes again, it could have been seconds or hours, either way she quickly washed herself and turned the tap off. She was still half putting her sweater on when she left her bathroom, jumping halfway back inside when she saw Natasha sitting on her bed.

“Oh good you're done. I want your opinion.” The redhead barely looked up from her phone as Josie teetered towards her, stealthy grabbing a pair of underwear from the clean pile on the floor and quickly pulling them on. If it weren't Nat, she would have told them to get out, but as it were, the other woman really didn't seem to care she'd been partially nude, which made it easier to not care herself.

“Oh…?” Was all she got out as she stepped closer squinting at the lit up screen that was now facing her.

“The black and white or the red?” Nat asked, a little frown pressed between her brows, almost convincing Josie that this was her only purpose. But she knew better, why would she ask fashion advice from the only person in the tower who lived in sweat pants, only upgrading to jeans when she was forced to go out. Josephine's eyes focused in on the two dresses, taking in their details. They were both lovely and Josie shrugged.

“I like them both?” Nat rolled her eyes and sat back on the bed.

“Not the answer I was looking for… what're you wearing?” Josie shrugged again, she really hadn't considered the fact that she couldn't just wear pyjamas to the party and her mind began cycling through the nicer clothes she had.

“Uh… I have a nice pant suit?” Upon the redhead raising a questioning brow, the smaller woman moved to her closet, shuffling for a moment before finding the aforementioned suit and producing it, unzipping the dry cleaning bag and laying it on the bed. It was a shiny blue fabric that was dark enough to not wash her out, but pretty enough to not look business like at all. It was tailored perfectly and was the most equivalent item of clothing she had to a fancy dress.

“Hmmn… I’ll wear the black and white one then.” Natasha said after a few thoughts, touching the fabric of the jacket fondly as she looked back up at the woman in front of her, who was now collecting the suit and hanging it up.

“Dressing to impress tonight?” The older woman asked making Josie roll her eyes.

“Yeah I'm sure the room full of people who really don't care who I am are gonna love the last minute outfit.” She said with a laugh, pulling on a pair of leggings, and then a pair of dark grey track pants. Natasha shrugged.

“I was just wondering if there was anyone of the opposite sex you were going to try and lure in.” The redhead held up her hands in surrender at the look Josie gave her.

“I may try and lure Thor into watching another telenovela once everyone's left?” Natasha shook her head, a genuine laugh bubbling from her lips as she stood, a soft smile on her face.

“All I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't wait too long.” She walked from the room, leaving Josephine confused and she blinked a few times.

“Do you mean I should ask Thor now?” She called, hearing her front door close a moment later and she frowned, humming to herself in reply.

 

\---

 

By the time Josie had woken from a nap and readied herself (poking her eye with eyeliner at least three times before she gave up and threw it down) the party was already in full swing. The elevator doors dinged open and she was immediately overwhelmed with the amount of people in the shared living spaces of the Tower.

“Agent James!” Someone greeted her in passing, making the small woman double take and smile tightly in reply as she made her way into the event, looking desperately for someone she knew. On the first level she could see Sam and Steve playing pool with a couple veteran’s and she began moving toward them when someone gently grabbed her by the arm.

“Lady Josephine!” Thor was grinning as he always seemed to be and quickly passed her a drink she hadn't even realised he'd had.

“Thor! Hey!” Josie smiled back at him, both of them taking a sip of their drinks before looking around at the party.

“It is an impressive turnout of friends!” The blonde announced and Josie scoffed, the pair both leaning forward on the rails of the inside balcony level.

“Please, outside of the team I bet Tony knows maybe six of these people by name and… at least 8 by sexual organs.” Thor laughed at that, as did Josie upon spotting the billionaire some ways off by the bar (go figure). She ran a hand over her head, a nervous action the demi-God didn't fail to notice and he nudged her softly.

“Do you wish to go somewhere quieter?” He asked and the brunette nodded after a moment, allowing herself to be led out of the room and up the stairs toward the balcony.

 

\---

 

“Have you found a place in Brooklyn yet?” Sam inquired as he and Steve reached the top level of the main party space, the pair looking thoughtfully out over the people who’d come to celebrate the collapse of all HYDRA offshoot groups that had still been active after D.C. Steve sighed.

“I don’t think I can _ afford _ a place in Brooklyn.” He joked, only half serious about the price of real estate. Sam gave him a look. They both knew the real reason he hadn’t moved was that he liked being close to the group, and especially Josie. It wasn’t that they hadn’t moved near each other before, but Steve knew how much this little family of theirs had come to mean to her, he wouldn’t ask her to move away simply because he couldn’t handle the thought of not being able to see her everyday. Sam shook his head a little, pursing his lips with a soft grin.

“Well, home is home…” The phrase held a double meaning and Steve mutely nodded to himself as he pondered it, leaving Sam to interact with an Army Vet. who’d come to talk to him.

 

\---

 

Thor may not have entirely understood her quiet and nervous nature around others, but he did accept the fact that Josie was easily overwhelmed in social situations and did his best to help alleviate it if he could, he was a good friend, far better than Josie thought she deserved. They stepped outside onto the small balcony, the brunette glad she'd worn a jacket with her outfit as the cool night air whipped around them.

“It is good Barton was not too badly injured.” Thor stated simply and Josie hummed in agreement, having seen him at the party.

“I'm going to miss you, when you go back to Asgard again.” She said softly after a few minutes of silence and the god looked down at her, a small frown on his features.

“It will not be permanent. And if you really wish to see me, you can call upon Heimdall to relay a message.” Josie grinned, having been filled in on who Heimdall was in more recent years.

“Is that how you and Jane stay in contact? Oh! What if you want to say romantic things to each other, do you have to tell Heimdall you love him?!” Josephine and Thor both laughed, finishing their drinks with quiet giggles as they trailed off.

“Thor! My man! You have to come meet this guy!” Sam Wilson had popped round the doorframe, large grin on his face and it only got brighter when he saw who was standing with the Asgardian.

“Josie! How’ve you been man?” Sam embraced her easily pulling away and whistling lowly once he'd gotten a chance to look her up and down.

“You clean up nicely! I'm liking the buzz!” Josie laughed a little, the small amount of whatever Thor had given her in the glass already going to her head, she was feeling far more relaxed now that she had earlier.

“Nat did it! It's amazing to get up and not have to do anything with my hair. Boys have it easy!” She exclaimed making Thor roll his eyes as he flicked his long blonde curls over his shoulder.

“A decent hair care routine would have made your life far easier Lady Josephine.” He told her, scolding playfully as the trio laughed.

“In saying that however, Steve spends way too much time for the amount he has.” Sam ran his hand through his hair in the familiar manner their mutual friend often did around them, causing Josie to slap him lightly on the arm as she giggled.

“It's rude to talk about someone when they're not around!” Steve's voice called out to them lightly as he approached, blinking and faltering briefly in his steps when he saw Josephine. He'd half expected to see her in jeans and a t-shirt (not that he'd mind at all), but the outfit she had worn surpassed anything he could have conjured up in his head. It was a deep blue pant suit made of shiny, but thick fabric that fit her far too perfectly, underneath she wore a simple white shirt that dipped lowly but could still be considered somewhat modest. His wandering eyes were missed by everyone except Sam who rolled his own at his friend's inability to think properly when Josie was in anything other than her sweats or heat suit.

“Steve! Hey!” In her own head, Josie was screeching. He always looked good in  _ anything _ , but the way he had his sleeves rolled up over his elbows, only further accentuating the muscles in his arms, made it hard for her to ignore the pounding in her ears or the strange sensation she felt bubbling up in her stomach. Once again, Sam rolled his eyes, tapping Thor on the shoulder.

“C’mon man, you have to meet this guy I was telling you about…” As if on queue the pair left, Steve turning and watching as they walked back into the party, both thankful and panicking that Sam had given him an opportunity to be alone with Josie.

“Enjoying yourself?” He asked, sidling up next to where his friend had turned to look out at the view. Josephine scoffed good-naturedly, giving him a look.

“It’s okay… I spent a whole five minutes in there before Thor felt the need to remove me so… better than last time?” She shrugged. Sometimes she felt truly ridiculous, she was an international  _ master spy _ . She’d literally fought through some of the worst times of her life, battled an alien invasion in New York, and had stopped threats to world security not even Steve knew about, but here she was, terrified of the thought of people not liking her. She sighed deeply, knowing her issues were deeply rooted in her upbringing, but she  _ hated _ the way that constantly made her feel. She felt both invincible and utterly fragile at the same time. It was an odd tightrope act, but one she walked nonetheless. Steve nudged her.

“Tony said people will be leaving in an hour or so. Don’t stress.” Josie could only smile tightly, looking back out at the view.

“I’m not stressing.” She said under her breath, receiving a raised eyebrow from the blonde in reply. Steve breathed in deeply, leaning against the railings that kept them from falling 90 stories to the ground below. For a while now he’d been meaning to talk to Josie about his feelings, ask her for coffee or something, but every time he was about to, a little voice in the back of his head told him that they had bigger problems currently. But that had all finished now, with Strucker captured and the scepter back in their hands, hopefully the group could disband again. He pushed off the rail, running a hand through his hair in the way Josie had mimicked earlier.

“Hey I was won-”

“Rogers, James! Get in here! We’re chilling out upstairs!” Rhodey’s voice interrupted and drowned out Steve’s. Josephine turned to look at the other man who was beckoning them inside, not content to leave the doorway until he saw them moving. The brunette laughed as she made forward, looking up at the blonde who pulled the door open for her.

“What were you saying?” She asked, her brow furrowed slightly and Steve shook his head, knowing that now wasn’t the right time.

“It wasn’t important.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see!!
> 
> I'm sorry it's take so long to update! But I'm back and I will definitely try to post more than once every few months (sweats nervously)
> 
> This chapter has been sitting 300 words from being finished since december and I just havent known how to finish it... so i apologise it it's a little underwhelming... writers block is real and it kILLS
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and staying with me all this while <3 see you next chapter!


	18. Avengers: AOU - No Strings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie doesn't do a lot, Tony does too much, Steve has no right looking as good as he does in that blue shirt.
> 
> AKA Ultron makes himself known.

Josie grinned as she and Steve ascended the stairs to the top balcony level of the shared living space at Stark Tower. They could already hear the others talking loudly, the occasional collective laugh sounding as they climbed to the top step.

“Mr and Mrs James decide to join us at last!” Tony announced, causing the others to look up with grins and a small chorus of cheers.

“Very funny.” Steve said with a shake of his head, glad the billionaires attention was caught by Rhodey smacking him in the arm, otherwise he might've seen the light blush that crept over his cheeks.

“Besides Tony, It’d be Mr and Mrs Rogers. I wouldn't keep James.” Josie joked, glancing with a cheeky smirk up at the blonde, feeling stupid the moment she did, seeing the uncomfortable look on his face. Natasha caught her eye and she smirked, making the brunette turn bright red, and she took her seat between Steve and Thor, sinking far back into the couch as Thor was laughing at something Clint had said about Mjolnir.

“It's a trick man! Come on! ‘He who be worthy shall haveth the power!’”

“It's far more than that my friend! Please, be my guest!” The demi-God held a hand out, already knowing what the outcome would be. There was a brief momentary pause before Clint nodded, getting up from his spot on the couch.

“Sure! Right. Easy.” After a few jabs from Tony and Clint laughing at the fact he  _ still _ couldn't lift the hammer, he turned to the other man, a little annoyed.

“Please Stark, by all means…” And then the room descended into chaos of laughter and anticipation as each Avenger took their turns, Bruce making a cringe worthy (but cute) display, Tony and Rhodey using the arms of their suits to aid and ultimately fail at lifting the hammer. Even Maria Hill got in on it, trying very briefly, her face already wearing defeat and she turned to Nat.

“Tasha?”

“Oh no, I don't need an answer to that question. I’ll leave that you you and the boys. Jose?” Josie startled, looking around as cheers of encouragement sounded from around the room and she shrugged, jumping up. Thor patted her leg as she walked past and she snuck him a cheeky grin. They'd tried this several weeks ago, when Josie had forgotten about the fact no one could lift the hammer, and she'd attempted to move it for him. It had been an embarrassing slip up, but had made the Demi-God laugh with amusement.

“Well, I don't think James could pick it up even if she were worthy.” Tony said, leaning back and sipping his drink, a twinkle in his eye. Josephine glared at him as she took off her jacket, throwing it to the couch.

“Excuse me?”

“You're a waif, kid!”

“You know I could kill you with nothing but the glass in your hand, right?” Tony shrugged at the vague threat and Josie shook her head with a grin. She carefully gripped the hilt of the weapon, warm from everyone else efforts and with very little force, attempted to pull. She raised her eyebrow as she looked up at the people sitting around her, watching with baited breath and laughed.

“Come on guys, as if!” Thor laughed as she sat back down, Steve already standing and rolling his sleeves up. Josie made a face, thinking about how unfair it was that he look that good in a simple shirt when she noticed slight movement. It was so brief she wasn't even sure it had happened, and as she looked at everyone else, she realised none of them had seen it. She did look at Thor however, whose smile dropped almost immediately but when Steve still was unable to lift the hammer, his grin returned, relieved. Josie frowned, wondering if she'd seen anything at all.

“Ahah! Nothing!”

“All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged!” Tony stated, receiving a friendly slap on the arm from Clint as he uncapped another beer.

“You bet your ass it is.” Maria gasped at that and turned to where Steve sat, smiling at the display his friends put on.

“Steve, he said a bad word!” She told him feigning innocence and the man in question hung his head with an annoyed sigh.

“Did you tell everyone about that?!” The question was aimed at Tony but the brunette ignored him, continuing his sentence.

“It's hand coded right? ‘Whosoever carries Thor’s fingerprint’ is the actual translation, I think you’ll find…” Tony crossed his arms over his chest as Thor shrugged.

“Yes well, that's a very, very interesting theory, but I have a better one;” he paused for dramatic effect as he stood, drink still in one hand, reaching out with the other and flipping it up, catching it again as he looked about at his friends, a grin spread across his face.

“You’re all not worthy!”

There were ‘boo’s and other sounds of playful disagreement and Josie laughed loudly. To her personally, it was never in question that they wouldn't be able to hold the hammer. Thor was among the best and most pure hearted of them and she admired him most for it.  It was then that a loud screeching noise echoed throughout the room, everyone wincing and covering their ears as it got louder, before fading out.

“Uh, what the fuck?” Josephine jumped at the sound, accidentally moving closer to Steve in the process. She could feel the warmth of his arm through his shirt and it reminded her that she'd taken her jacket off. Tony pulled out his phone, checking something and trying to figure it out when a low and deep guttural voice sounded, everyone turning around confused, trying to place it.

Below them on the bottom floor, a shambled and mostly destroyed member of the iron legion stumbled forward on barely working legs. Josie stood, stepping closer to where Steve and Thor had moved, looking over the balcony at the robotic creature.

“No… how could you be worthy?” It growled.

“You're all killers.”

“Tony…!”

“Stark?” Both Josie and steve spoke at the same time, the billionaire immediately calling out for JARVIS.

“Sorry, I was asleep… or, I was a dream.”

“JARVIS, reboot, I got a buggy suit in here.” He commanded quietly as the robot continued rambling, talking about dreaming, and noise and strings.

“... I had to kill the other guy… He was a good guy…” It said fairly noncommittally.

“You killed someone?” Steve asked, but it was more of a statement. Everyone looked around confused and alert. The robot looked up at them, at Steve.

“Wouldn't have been my first call, but down in the real world we’re faced with ugly choices.”

“Who sent you?” Thor piped up, the glass now missing from his hand, but the hammer still in place. The was a sound like a tape rewinding and Tony’s voice could be heard playing from the creature's form.

“I see a suit of armour around the world…”

“Ultron?!” Bruce called, looking at Tony as the robot continued shambling forward.

“In the flesh, or well, no not yet. But I'm ready! I'm on a mission…” It announced after looking down at its ridiculously torn up body. Maria and Josie shared a look, the older woman watching as Josephine's hands began frosting over, a thin sheet of glass covering her skin and Maria cocked her gun, standing.

“What mission?” Josie wasn't sure who had asked, maybe it was her, all she knew was that this wasn't about to end peacefully. The robot cocked its head in a way.

“Peace in our time.”

Next thing she knew, Josie was ducking as Steve kicked the table over, shielding both of them as one of Tony’s ramshackle legion flew straight at them, deflecting off the surface and flying up, Maria immediately taking shots at it. The room turned to chaos, Tony and Rhodey both slid down to the first floor, Thor attacked, and Clint smashed through a bookcase.

One of the less destroyed suits flew above them, and Steve launched himself from the railing at it, fighting mid air with the robot until he was knocked to the ground and Josie couldn't help but call out for him as she dodged a fucking rocket.

“Steve…?” She jumped from the landing as the explosion smashed into the couch and rolled, coming to a stop nearby the blonde who was picking himself up. On the floor above the balcony they could see Thor partially destroy one of the suits, it fell to their floor. Josie raced for it when she saw that it got back up. Steve called to Tony, who was also mid air, attempting to dismantle the one he held onto.

Josie made it just in time as the suit raised its fists to attack the hiding Doctor Cho, grabbing it as best she could and jumping out of the way as Thor came back for round two, crushing the thing with Mjolnir. She unfortunately fell low, sliding across some glass and wincing as she felt it tear up the skin on her arm and face.

Next she knew, Clint was throwing Steve his shield and the blonde ditched it at the last remaining suit, cutting it in half and everyone watched as it fell to the ground with a loud crash. The original, insane rambling robot was still on the bottom floor and everyone turned to face it as it sighed.

“That was dramatic…” It scolded, pacing.

“Mhm I know you  _ mean _ well, you just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world but you don't want  _ change _ .” Josie pushed to her feet and walked toward Thor, hating how human the thing sounded as it scolded them like children. It continued rambling, making insane sense now as it paced, keeping its face turned toward them. She shared a look with Nat across the room as it spoke of peace, and then about the Avengers extinction. Thor practically growled as he threw Mjolnir at the robot, crushing its head and sending it flying back into the wall. It fell to the ground with a clunk as the hammer returned to the Demi-gods hands.

“I had strings, but now I'm free…” It sang loudly, the light leaving its eyes as the body died and Josie breathed in deeply, looking wildly around at everyone else.

 

“So uuh, what the actual fuck?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I return once again, with a short chapter!  
> It a peace offering for disappearing again but i promise I will finish AOU soon!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and sticking with me, its very much appreciated <3
> 
> please leave a comment or kudos if you're so inclined, lets me know if you like it! <3 
> 
> love you all <3


	19. Avengers: AOU - Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers confront Ultron in Africa, but things don't go exactly as planned.

After a brief argument, in the lab where the team discovered one of the suits had gotten away, right after stealing Loki’s scepter, everyone had retired for the night. Josie had quickly, and angrily retired to her quarters, firmly telling Thor that he was not allowed into her space for a little while. Steve evidently didn't get the memo as less than 3 minutes later he’d walked through her front door.

“I have no pants on.” She told him, not turning from her place on the kitchen bench where she was currently picking glass out of her leg wearing nothing but her white t shirt and dropping the tiny shards straight into the bin in front of her. She didn't see Steve shrug, but she imagined he did as she saw him in front of her a few seconds later, eyes running over her leg, her arm and the side of her face. After a second of ignoring him as she plucked out a particularly deep shard, she grunted an annoyed sigh.

“I was really hoping to go one whole year before the world fell apart again…” She said, voice tired more than anything and she handed Steve the tweezers when he held a hand out, pulling up a chair and helping as best he could.

“Is that too much too ask for?”

“If you wanted a normal life, I think you might be in the wrong business…” Steve told her after a moment, his focus almost completely on pulling glass from her limb. Josie sighed.

“Okay, abnormal is one thing, psychotic robots is another, very different, completely fucked up thing!” He looked at her then, the tone of her voice was different and he couldn’t quite place the emotion. He patted her leg down as he finished, standing and moving in closer to deal with her arm. It mostly looked like scratches and so he moved for the wet cloth next to her, cleaning away the dried blood that ran down her arm and stained the sleeve of her white shirt.

“Are you okay? I saw you fall…?” Josie asked after a moment, looking up at him, spying a few small bruises to his face that would be gone in the morning. He shook his head, a soft smile playing at his lips.

“I’m fine. I’m more worried about what happens next… and what that means for us.” Josie nodded and they pair stayed silent the rest of the time, spending the night in each other’s company as neither really wanted to sleep alone, Josie shrinking into Steve’s chest as she fell asleep and the blonde sighing contently as he held her there.

 

~

 

The next morning the team reassembled to discuss their findings from overnight; Strucker was dead and the enhanced from his lab, the Maximoff twins, were now working with Ultron.

 

Oh, and everything they had that tied them together had been deleted.

 

They spent the better part of the afternoon going through boxes and boxes of files they had on Strucker, only stopping occasionally for coffee or food breaks. As Josie finished with another file, finding nothing of use inside, she cast it aside rubbing at her thoroughly sore eyes. No one had really spoken much to one another, the argument from last night having only been resolved by the sheer fact that they were the only ones who could fix it, and thus could not be mad at each other. A nudging at her foot, caught her attention and Josie looked up to see Nat with a coffee mug outstretched and the brunette gratefully took it, watching as the assassin sat down next to her, a file and her own tea in hand.

“Saw Steve leaving yours this morning.” She stated quietly after a moment, not looking up from the file. If Josie had not heard her, she’d have thought she didn't say anything at all. Her eyes flickered to Where Steve sat hunched over, talking about something with Tony.

“That isn’t exactly a big thing. What’s your point?” It was said harsher than Josie had intended it, but she also didn't make any move to correct herself. She was starting to get really tired of everyone having something to say about her and Steve.  _ Especially _ when everyone could so plainly see the bond forming between Bruce and Nat, but neither doing anything about it. It was hypocrisy in the most annoying form. She felt rather than saw Nat shrug from next to her as Josie’s eyes went back to the task at hand.

“I just think it’s…. Nice you two have each other. That’s all.” Their conversation died out from there and eventually the group moved closer together, sitting around the one table in the center in the room as they felt the mood of the search die down until Tony snatched a file right from Bruce’s hands, catching everyone’s attention.

“Wait! I know that guy… From back in the day, he operates off the African coast, selling black market arms.” The second he said it, Tony looked up at Steve who was giving him a dead eye glare.

“There are conventions, all right? You meet people…. I didn’t sell him anything.” Josie stood from her place at the end of the table next to Nat and moved to get a better look at who they were talking about. Her eyes scanned the page, now in Thor’s hands and she quickly picked out information, her mind trained to discard the unnecessary when sussing out a target.

“He was talking about something new, a game changer…. It was all very Ahab.”

“Whats this?” Thor asked, looking over his arm at Josie who he had recently found out was multilingual.

“Tattoos, but i don't think he had them at the-”

“No, those are tattoos, this is a brand.” Josephine cut him off, pointing out the scared and angry looking mark on the back of his neck. She cocked her head, not recognising the symbol itself but something about it seemed very very familiar…

“Its Wakandan, I think…” She said quietly after a moment, a frown on her face as Bruce confirmed that, and the meaning. She watched as Steve and Tony shared a look.

“I thought your Father said he’d got the last of it?” The blonde had a similar frown on his face to Josie as Bruce stood from the computer and walked over to them, looking down at the pages they held.

“I don’t follow? What comes out of Wakanda?”

“The strongest metal on earth.”

 

~

 

“Don’t compare me to Tony Stark! It’s a thing with me! Stark is- he’s, he’s a sickness!” Josephine watched from her elevated position as Ultron had a hissy fit, watched as Thor, Steve and Tony descended upon him from behind, the twins quickly whipping around to a defensive position.

“Oh Junior, you’re going to break your old man’s heart…”

“If I have to.” The mech replied and Josie made a face at just how alike his and tony’s responses were. It was like looking into a dark future where Iron man wasn’t just an asshole, but an evil one.

“No one has to break anything.” Thor said evenly and Ultron seemed  _ chuckle _ .

“Clearly you’ve never made an omelette.”

“He beat me by one second.” Tony said to Thor, sounding almost proud. The twins stepped forward then, The boy, Pietro gesturing to the black market weapons surrounding them.

“Ah Mr Stark, this is comfortable yes? Just like old times.”

“You two can still walk away from this…” Steve took a step forward, stopping when The giant robot addressed him.

“Uh, Captain America! God’s Righteous man, pretending you could live without war…” Josie grit her teeth then, wanting nothing more than to punch him in his stupid metal face. It didn’t take long after that for the room to once more descend into chaos, Iron Man and Ultron clashing in the air as Thor and Steve took on two of the metal minions that had hopped up out of seemingly nowhere. The twins moved too, Wanda knocking Steve to the ground and Pietra racing past Thor to god knows where. Josie would have stayed in her vantage point with her gun, had armed pirates not began shooting at her. She dodged behind a crate, rolling away as the men ran closer and she leapt out from behind the cover, fist frozen solid as she began to fist fight the men closest to her, taking immense joy out of whacking them with their own guns when she had the opportunity to do so. Hearing a click right by her ear as she knocked the last guy to the ground, Josei had barely turned to face the group of three with the guns trained on her when out of nowhere Steve’s shield smashed into them, sending the majority of them to the ground as the glorified frisbee spun back to Steve’s hands. She ran for the upper levels, making note to thank Steve later. She could hear fighting up ahead but something to her left caught her eye as she ran and she looked, making sure it wasn’t a man with a gun, stopping when she saw it was Wanda. Josephine swung around, bringing her fist up to knock the woman out, when suddenly a red mist shrouded her vision. She stopped, fist limply falling to her side and she rubbed her eyes with a gasp, looking up to find the younger girl nowhere in site.

“What the fuck…” She turned, feeling sloppy in her movements all of a sudden and she began moving again, this time walking. She felt drunk and as she rounded a corner she let out a sharp gasp.

She was in a cell.

Josephine spun wildly around, moving to grasp at the bars as she yelled out. This was so familiar, it was everything she’d fought so hard to forget. A sweeping noise to her left made her turn and then suddenly, she was no longer caged. She stood in the corner of a surgery, watching a child scream as needles dug under her skin, unable to move for what felt like hours as the doctors poked and prodded the girl on the gurney.

“ _ You will be  _ exactly  _ what SHIELD needs Keturah _ .”

The name echoed in her head, and her vision went white as the same voice spoke again.

“ _ Your sacrifice will worth it before the end, child… _ ” Josephine called out in anguish as she was suddenly thrown to the ground, a pair of hands on her throat.

“ _ Should have let Mikhail kill you. _ ” Steve glared down at her, hatred in his eyes and Josephine cried out, hands grasping at his wrists as lifted her by the neck, pinning her against the wall.

“ _ You aren’t worthy of  _ anything _ , let alone love. _ ” He smashed her head into the wall, sending spots in her already hazy vision and somewhere in her mind, Josephine recognised the apartment they once shared around them.

“ _ Steve! Let me… Stop _ !”

 

Her vision swam, and then went dark.

  
~

 

Steve found her as she was coming to, her eyes regaining focus and when she saw him she flinched away automatically.

“Don’t! Don’t touch me!” She yelled, backing into the corner and gasping for air as she began to hyperventilate. Her head fucking  _ hurt _ . Steve stopped, his face contorted with several emotions that flickered quickly as he watched his friend back away from him, fear in her eyes and tears streaming down her cheeks.

In the end only Thor managed to get her to move and Steve watched as she shook like a leaf in the demi-gods arms, her eyes somewhat hollow as they all walked defeated to the quinjet. By the time she’d moved away from Thor and sat by herself in the corner, Josie was coherent enough to at least realise her fear of Steve had been stupid. He’d  _ never _ hurt her.

She thought back on her vision, the look of absolute disdain and hatred in his eyes had scared her. She tried not to think about the labs, and the screaming child, or the name.

A blanket fell gently around her shoulders and she looked up to see Steve taking a step back, face hesitant and blank at the same time. He didn't want to upset her again.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t- I.” She stared up at him, eyes pleading and voice wobbly until finally she burst into tears. Steve was next to her in an instant, a hand gently carding through the short fuzz on her hair and shushing her.

“Jose come on, it’s okay… shh…” Eventually she pulled away, having calmed down and she clenched her fist. If she even met Wanda again, she was going to knock the little bitch out. Steve sat back after that, arm still tightly around her shoulder as they both stared silently off into space. Nobody spoke when Iron Man carried a naked banner aboard, giving him pants and returning to co pilot the ship with Clint. Everyone stayed in their only little spaces, nobody spoke except Tony’s brief conversation with Maria and a whispered conversation with Clint about their destination. Nobody really cared and Josie soon found herself nodding off to sleep against Steve’s stiff shoulder.

  
  


~

 

It was sunrise when they landed in the middle of nowhere, only forest and fields around them for miles excluding a quaint farmhouse and its barns. Steve had shook Josephine awake gently as everybody exited the jet, the confusion of the unknown only settling in more as they too left the jet, and looked about. Clint took up the front with Nat, helping her walk a little as they trudged through the fields toward the house.

“Where are we?” Josie whispered, arm latched onto Steve’s, not totally comfortable just yet with moving away from his side. He shrugged, a frown clearly drawn across his features as they trudged up the stairs, Clint leading the way still as he opened the door, showing everyone inside.

“Honey? I’m home!” Clint called into the living room and Jose breathed deeply at Steve’s side, cocking her head at the plethora of children’s toys spread around the room. It was then a tall, dark haired woman popped in from the corner, happy confusion clearly written on her face as she hurried to embrace Clint, a simple kiss on the cheek and a smile for the rest of them as the archer apologised for not calling ahead. Tony turned to the rest of the group, disbelief written on his face.

“This is an agent of some kind.” He stated as Clint’s wife came into clearer view and they could all see now that she was quite heavily pregnant. Josie still hung onto Steve’s side and the pair shared a look when they realised what was happening.

“Gentlemen, and Josie, this is Laura, my wife.” Laura smiled and waved at them all, looking genuinely happy to see them, which after everything they had been through the previous day, was somewhat welcome.

“I know all of your names…” She told them a little awkwardly with a laugh and Josei couldn’t help but smile.

“Daddy!” The two screams of young children running into the room caught everyone off guard again as Clint raced to meet them, picking up a small girl and pulling close the older boy. Steve made a face, already thoroughly thrown off and now even more so. But something in him welled too, once upon a time he’d wanted children too.

“These are… smaller agents…” Tony continued to try and make the only sense he could out of the situation and Bruce elbowed him in the side.

“Did you bring Aunty Nat?” The little girl asked as as her father put her down. It was hearing her name that pulled Natasha from her thoughts and she crept forward into the little girl’s view, a genuine grin on her face.

“Why don’t you hug her and find out!” Josie made a ‘hmnf’ noise and she and Steve shared a look. It was… odd to say the least, seeing how The Black Widow was so genuinely good with children.

“Sorry for barging in ma’am.” Steve piped up eventually, stepping forward a little and Tony agreed.

“We would have called but we were too busy not knowing you existed.”

“Yeah, well Fury helped me set this up when I joined, Kept it off SHIELD’s files, and I’d like to keep it that way.” Josie didn’t miss the look exchanged between Nat and Bruce but she ignored it. Unlike Natasha, other people's personal lives weren’t her issue.

“I figured it’s a good place to lay low.” Clint finished his thoughts and Josie could see the worry in Steve’s eye as he looked about the living room and kitchen area. He was running through his mind what would happen if they  _ were _ found here. She saw his eyes flicker to Laura and the kids and she reached out, grabbing his hand.

“Stop that.” The frown ceased to exist the moment she touched him and he looked a little bashful. They both turned, hands still held when a soft crunching could be heard and they looked down to see Thor kicking a broken toy under the couch. He caught their eyes and it clearly read ‘tell the small ones and I’ll end you.’ Josie smiled and turned back to where Natasha was talking to Laura’s stomach, and Clint was saying something to his son. It was all suddenly very domestic and she was surprised to find that didn't exactly hate it. The toast popped suddenly and Thor seemed to snap out of whatever state he was in, leaving the room, and walking right out the front door. Steve followed almost immediately, letting go of Josie’s hand as he chased the other blonde out the door.

“Thor!?”   
“I saw something in that dream. I need answers. I won’t find them here.” And with that he was gone, leaving Steve on the front porch. He looked out over the fields, the beautiful house around him and then back inside. He was about to go back to the living room, back to Josie’s hands when something stopped him.

_ “We can go home!” _

 

Steve wasn’t sure if he had a home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another quick update ya'll  
> Thank you for reading <3
> 
> Thank you to Amy who hasnt read this yet, but will, and will send me very excited texts  
> love you haha
> 
>  
> 
> please leave a comment or kudos if youre so inclined to let me know if you like this chapter <3 kudos make the world go 'round <3
> 
> see ya soon friends


End file.
